Addressing Complexity Aspects in Conceptual Ship Design: A Systems Engineering Approach

Abstract

This article approaches the complexity aspects of conceptual ship design from a systems engineering point of view. We introduce the issue by defining the term complexity in systems engineering, placing the conceptual ship design task as a complex system problem and creating analogies between generic complex systems and a ship. Five main aspects of complexity are presented, linking challenges of the conceptual phase to each of the aspects. The structural aspect is related to the arrangement and interrelationship of the physical objects in the ship. The behavioral aspect derives from the form-function mapping. The external circumstances to which the ship is subjected are approached through the contextual aspect. Uncertainties in the scenarios and changes over time are related to the temporal aspect. The perceptual aspect relates to how stakeholders perceive the value that they receive from a chosen design. A theoretical study to address these five aspects is presented, applying the responsive systems comparison method in the conceptual design of an anchor handling a tug supply vessel. The last section discusses why decomposing the complexities of the ship design task in five aspects is a benefit.

Incorporating changeability for value-robust product-service systems: an integrative review

“…Behavioral complexity shall not be interpreted as physiological-behavioral complexity but complexity that emerges from form-to-function mapping and primarily concerns a system's evaluability given the external factors. On handling a ship design problem, Gaspar et al (2012) explained the challenge in performance analysis of the ship concerning propulsion, maneuverability, stability and seakeeping due to the complex mathematical formulations that are often difficult to solve. Especially during the early design stage, assessing such functions relies on empirical formulation, expert opinions or surrogate modeling, leading to uncertainty in design decision-making.…”

“…External factors are typically independent of internal factors, and thus, both must be brought together in an integrated model to represent all the associated complexities at a given instance (de Weck et al 2007). The critical challenge concerning the external factors is to view the context and the requirements as circumstances that are likely to change (Rhodes & Ross 2010;Gaspar et al 2012).…”

Influence of Ship Design Complexity on Ship Design Competitiveness

“…Structural and behavioural/functional aspects of complexity are discussed most frequently by different ship design practitioners (Mistree et al, 1990;Singer, Doerry and Buckley, 2009;Papanikolaou, 2010;Andrews, 2018). In his study, Gaspar (2012) introduces three more aspects of contextual, temporal, and perceptual complexity in ship design (Gaspar et al 2012). In the engineering design literature, complexity is typically modelled and measured by information content, such as the Shannon entropy model (Kumari and Kulkarni 2016;Suh 2005), or by the structural complexity of the system or product (Suh 2001;Lindemann, Maurer, and Braun 2009).…”

The aesthetics of sustainable industrial design: Form and function in the circular design process

“…Luccarelli et al (2014); Sheller (2004)), marine (see, e.g. Gaspar et al (2012)), building engineering (see, e.g. Ching (2023); Van Der Voordt and Van Wegen (2007)), bridge engineering (see, e.g.…”