Parametric modelling for adaptive internal compartment design of container ships

The efficiency of the transport is a major aim in conceptual design of ships. The ship synthesis models used in this design stage can be quite enhanced by the inclusion of tools to obtain a more accurate estimate of the cargo and ballast capacities. Parametric geometric modelling is an efficient tool for the generation of alternatives of internal layouts of the cargo holds and their assessment during the early design stage. This work presents a contribution for the parametric modeling of the cargo holds in container ships to be used in the conceptual design stage. First the specific aspects of the container holds are analyzed. Then the parameters that must be considered to locate and restrict the container piles are identified. An algorithm is presented to determine the feasible number of containers carried in each hold and the corresponding centroids. Finally, some results are presented by considering the effect of location of the intermediate bulkheads on the container arrangements.