Characterizing general arrangements and distributed system configurations in early-stage ship design

Abstract

General arrangement and distributed system design is a complex problem that is a fundamental aspect of ship design. Current approaches to this design problem employ a paradigm of using automated tools to generate and analyze potential vessel solutions. These approaches rely on the generation and optimization of vessel models based on design parameters. Created vessel models are then evaluated and compared to understand how parameters influence possible vessel characteristics. This process is time and resource intensive, which limits its application in early-stage design when many critical arrangement and distributed system design decisions are made. In this paper a new approach is proposed to complement the automated tool-based paradigm. For a vessel with a defined set of systems to be arranged and connected, the approach measures the probabilistic arrangement and distributed system configuration, without generating vessel models. This efficiently provides leading indicators of the expected design outcomes and resultant vessel characteristics, which can help guide early-stage decisions and lead to better applications of resource-intensive design tools. In this paper, methods supporting this approach are presented and application is demonstrated on a naval frigate concept design.