3D Simulation Modeling Of Apron Operation In A Container Terminal

In response to the phenomenon that some container terminals are excess capacity and some others are overloaded because of the imbalance of transportation development, this paper proposed a 3D simulation model of operation system for the container terminal apron. First, we study the characteristics of operation system for container terminal apron. Second, a 3D simulation model of terminal apron operation is implemented, which includes sub-model of layout, submodel of setting variables and parameters, sub-model of ship arriving, sub-model of loading and discharging operation, and sub-model of horizontal transport and yard operation, as well as sub-model of 3D animation. Finally, the implemented model is applied in practice to examine the impact of the time of single operation of the quay crane, the number of trucks allocated for each working path and the number of yard cranes equipped for each block on the operation efficiency of terminal apron. And the results show the proposed simulation model performs well that can provide experience and reference for exploring terminal apron effectively.