Towards a Method for the Optimisation of Midship Section in Terms of Production Cost in Preliminary Ship Design

The most closely related attribute to the actual building cost of a new ship is its structural arrangement. Other particulars related to that cost, such as the pay load capacity, the propulsion installation, the endurance of the ship, etc., are more or less defined in the specification document. On the other hand, the structural integrity of the vessel is not in any case directly considered by the ship owner. It is responsibility of the designer to analyse it in depth and within the limits of a given budget. The latter feature directly implies that the strength and production cost of a new vessel are closely related and require special attention in the design stage since this is the time to make substantial changes with the least cost penalty. Considering the above, a method is proposed for the estimation of structural integrity of the hull in terms of production cost. The potential of this method lies in the fact that strength and cost virtues are expressed as functions of the same fundamental variables. As a result the method is particularly useful in the early design stages. Despite the simplistic approach, the foundation is set for a more rational approach of cost analysis in ship design.© 2005 ASME