Review of Assembly Sequence Planning Methods in Terms of Their Applicability in Shipbuilding Processes

Abstract

The article characterises the sea-going vessel hull assembly processes and then reviews the existing assembly methods of mechanisms and welded ship structures. Classification of these methods is done with respect to selected criteria of their applicability to hull assembly. Selected methods are used for calculations performed on a model structure and exemplary database. The analysed aspects include the performance of calculation algorithms and the quality of the obtained solutions. Particular attention is paid to the need for reduction of experts’ participation in the planning process due to strong search space explosion effect. The performed analyses have enabled the authors to formulate assumptions for models which would be applicable in real assembly planning in shipyards, as well as to indicate areas of further research which would make it possible to better consider the specificity of production of large-size welded structures.

Subassembly Partition of Hull Block Based on Two-Dimensional PSO Algorithm

“…In terms of the above advantages, the PSO algorithm has been widely used in solving ASP problems [35], and its efficiency in tackling ASP has been improved to some extent. However, traditional PSO algorithms, confined to solving serial ASP-a one-by-one task to finish the assembly process, bear great difficulty in solving the subassembly detection problem due to its fuzzy and parallel nature [29]. Upon consideration of the identified research gaps, a two-dimensional PSO algorithm is proposed, and the coding and iteration methods are introduced in the following sections.…”

“…Up to now, researches on the subassembly partition of mechanical products significantly dominate over those dedicated to hulls and marine structures [29]. Adapting the reported methods used for mechanisms to shipbuilding is not always possible due to their specificity regarding the product structure and assembly technologies.…”

Assembly Sequence Planning by Probabilistic Tree Transformation

“…To reduce the time and cost, many algorithms and tools have been developed for generating assembly sequences automatically [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Almost all of them are based on a disassembly approach.…”