Optimum Structural Design of High-Speed Surface Effect Ships Built of Composite Materials

A surface effect ship is known to be comparable to a high-speed ship. For the structural design of surface effect ships, advanced design methods are needed which can reflect the various loading conditions different from those of conventional ships. Also, minimum weight design is essential because hull weight significantly affects the lift, thrust powering and high-speed performance. This paper presents the procedure of optimum structural design and a computer program to minimize the hull weight of surface effect ships built of composite materials. By using the developed computer program, the optimum structural designs for three types of surface effect ships-built of sandwich plate only, stiffened single skin plate only, and both plates-are carried out and the efficiency of each type is investigated in terms of weight. The computer program, developed herein, successfully reduced the hull weight of surface effect ships by 15-30% compared with the original design. Numerical results of optimum structural designs are presented and discussed.