Influence of different topological variants on optimized structural scantlings of passenger ships

Abstract For a multi-deck ships with extensive superstructures (such as passenger and cruise ships, RoPax, mega yachts, etc.) the global structural response can be particularly complex. The influence of the superstructure to the primary strength for those multi-deck ships must be considered from an early design phase. Main global topological parameters (e.g. size of side openings, position and stiffness of longitudinal and transverse bulkheads, etc.) have dominant influence on the shape of hull girder stress distributions over the ship height. The Taguchi concepts and techniques (FFE, orthogonal arrays, ANOVA, etc.) could be used to systematically study influence of multiple topological parameters on the global structural response obtained by FEM analysis. It also enables rational identification of the most dominant parameters and provide designer with the near-optimal level of each topological parameter for the defined design objective. It has been demonstrated how different topological variants can lead to different optimal structural scantlings w. r.t chosen design objectives (mass, VCG, etc.), using simplified full ship 3D FE model of passenger ship as an example. Structural design software MAESTRO and in-house developed framework for the design support system DeMak – OCTOPUS Designer were used as a structural optimization tool. This paper aim to extend the standard scantling optimization by introducing topological aspects as a first STEP in overall optimization procedure.