The Role of Virtual Prototyping in a New Approach to Integrated Ship Design

The traditional approach in ship design is historically based on a trial-and-error procedure in order to refine the design until the desired outcome is achieved. Currently, studies are aimed to enable an approach to ship design adopting the principles of concurrent and system engineering, in order to make the process more consistent, saving time, and avoid remaking activities due to various software used. To address these challenges, a streamlined design methodology is proposed, based on a product-model program. This approach, the so-called Integrated Ship Design, allows the swift development of virtual prototypes based on 3D parametric models of ships. Through integrated design software, designers can control different critical parameters, such as weight distribution, preliminary midship section and stability curves, thereby facilitating the decision-making moment. The primary objective of such an approach is to reduce design times and costs, while enhancing resilience and efficiency of the whole process. Specifically, this paper introduces an innovative strategy to improve early-stage ship design by means of the application of virtual prototyping techniques, with a particular emphasis on a case of study: a double-ended ferry. The case study demonstrates the advantages of this methodology within the domain of the ship design.