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Multilevel optimization applied to hull girder design using three panel forms

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Abstract

A multilevel design scheme for ship's hull girders (longitudinal members between two adjacent transverse frames) is presented in this paper. This design scheme handles, very conveniently, the complexity of using an optimization algorithm for such complex design problems having a large number of design variables, nonlinear constraints dealing with different failure modes and interactions among substructures, and nonlinear design objectives. The conventional multilevel design technique is modified by introducing an approach called constraint coordination to increase the probability of achieving the overall optimum very efficiently.

The scheme is demonstrated by application to the structural design of hull girders with simple structural modelling to represent inland waterway ships on which there was a special emphasis in the original research project (Rahman 1991). Three possible panel (consisting of one stiffener and its attached plating) forms; tee stiffened, flat-bar stiffened and corrugated, are optimized to synthesize the hull girder in order to achieve the most efficient structure. The effect of price-structure (labour rate to material price ratio) on the design is also investigated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, 1000, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    M. K. Rahman

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  1. M. K. Rahman
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Rahman, M.K. Multilevel optimization applied to hull girder design using three panel forms. Structural Optimization 7, 126–137 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01742518

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01742518

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