Realistic Simulation for Shipbuilding

Ship structures, both surface and submersible, routinely operate in the most demanding environments on the planet.  Salt water, wide ranges in air and water temperatures (from Arctic cold to tropical heat), climate, aggressive sea-states and the occasional presence of floating obstacles such as ice chunks all place demands on the design of structures whose failure is likely to have fatal consequences. These requirements are really no different whether the craft is a small fishing or pleasure boat, a luxury passenger cruiser, a high-speed racing catamaran or an enormous tanker—meaning that no corners can be cut, regardless of the craft’s purpose. To complicate matters, additional demands, such as UNDEX (Underwater Explosion) threats, are placed on ships used in defense and homeland security applications.

The ships themselves are highly complex, containing a myriad of multifunctional subsystems that must work seamlessly together in this harsh environment. At all times, concerns of safety, survivability, reliability and durability must be balanced against weight, efficiency, environmental impacts and cost. The effective employment of realistic simulation is absolutely essential to the success of any design/development/evaluation process for marine systems. Using Unified FEA tools can accelerate development cycles, safely and effectively manage weight budgets and prove new designs while minimizing the time and financial expense associated with destructive testing.

SIMULIA’s multi-discipline framework, with Abaqus Unified FEA as the engine for realistic simulation, enables the multi-disciplinary, cross-functional collaboration required to cut design cycles, optimize designs in real time and provide increased value to businesses and a safer, more efficacious product for end users.