Power, control & automation
Active constant-tension winch
Constant tension held against a true line-load measurement, so it can hold the very low, gentle tensions that umbilicals, hoses and electrical lines need.
Most constant-tension winches are hydraulic: they hold tension by maintaining a pressure differential across the drive motor. That is robust and reliable, but because the motor torque reaches the rope through a gearbox and bearings, friction sets a high floor on the lowest tension the winch can hold steadily, fine for wire rope and heavy lifts, but too high for an umbilical or hose. Our active constant-tension winch solves that by measuring the line tension directly.
How it works – closing the loop on real tension
A load cell on an instrumented sheave reads the actual line tension, and a closed control loop pays the drum in or out to hold that measured tension at the operator’s setpoint. Because the loop closes on the true line load, not on motor pressure through the friction of the gearbox. It can command and hold very low, well-controlled tensions that a pressure-differential system simply can’t resolve. The result protects the line rather than over-tensioning it.
- Very low achievable tension – load-cell control removes the friction floor, so the winch can hold gentle setpoints suited to umbilical, hoses and electrical umbilical.
- Continuously adjustable setpoint – the operator sets and changes the target tension at any time; the drum tracks it through vessel motion (verified against simulated heave at acceptance test).
- Retrofit control package – supplied as a control layer added to an existing winch rather than a new machine and engineered to work without modifying a winch’s own proprietary controller.
- Interlocked for offshore use – engage/disengage tension thresholds with latching guard against zero-load and inadvertent activation; overload auto-payout, slack-line, over-tension and over-wind protection; fail-safe braking on loss of pressure.
It pairs naturally with our wider heave-control family, see heave compensation, and shares its instrumented-load-path philosophy with our overload protection systems.
Tension setpoint range, line pull and drum sizing are engineered to the duty and confirmed at enquiry. Designed to recognised offshore lifting and marine-operations standards.