INTEGRATED DESIGN OF TANKER STRUCTURES

The paper presents a brief discussion of some important features concerning the structural behaviour of tankers. It is suggested that the design task may, with sufficient accuracy for preliminary design purposes, be subdivided into an iterative sequence of fairly simple jobs. These jobs are discussed in some detail with emphasis on their interrelationships. Some of the jobs involve design work which may be performed by means of automated design and optimization programs. Four examples of such programs are presented. In order to use the job programs efficiently it is necessary to work in an environment that offers: a) easy administration of problem-oriented programs; b) easy administration of data through a common data base; c) easy communication between user and computer in an interactive mode of operation. The BOSS system described in this paper is designed to meet these requirements, and it is shown how the complete design task may be organized in an integrated system.