Efficient Space Management in Ship Design

An AVEVA White Paper

The use of a Common Reference Model as an enabling

technique for efficient space management in ship design

Ulf Eriksson
Product Manager – Marine Early Design Products
Mats Westenius
Deputy Head of Marine Products
Leif Rading
Project Manager
AVEVA Solutions Ltd

Published March 2010

Efficient Space Management in Ship Design - an AVEVA White Paper

Contents
Page

Summary 2

1. Introduction 3

2. The Common Reference Model 3

3. 3D General Arrangement 4

4. Automatic Subdivision into Space Arrangements 5

5. Change and Reuse of Data 5

6. The Usage of Space Arrangements 6

7. Conclusion 7

Summary

Decisions made during ship design are influenced by numerous

rules and regulations, a large number of which relate to space
arrangements and information relating to spaces and boundaries
within such arrangements. It is necessary to efficiently handle
many such space arrangements, each created for a specific
purpose. With the rapid speed of design development, this puts
high demands on the ship model and the ways in which it can be
created and modified.

This paper describes how, in AVEVA Marine, the generation of

space arrangements can be based on a Common Reference Model
using a technique for automatic subdivision. The Common
Reference Model is a topologically connected structure of planar
and sculptured surfaces, used as a system of stable references for
all types of design structures within a project.

The paper also describes how information can be associated with

spaces and space boundaries; how the space arrangement is kept
up to date when the underlying reference model changes; and
how it integrates with other modelling disciplines within the
project. Finally, the usage of the space arrangements within
specific design and production areas is discussed.

This article has been adapted from a paper given at the International
Conference on Computer Applications in Shipbuilding (ICCAS 2009), in
September 2009, organised by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects
(RINA). It is reproduced with the permission of RINA.

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 Efficient Space Management in Ship Design - an AVEVA White Paper

1. Introduction 2. The Common Reference Model

A ship design project consists of several design and production In AVEVA Marine, the Common Reference Model is the foundation
structures, either spatial, by systems, or based on the build used by all disciplines within all phases of a project. It serves as a
strategy. Common information needs to be available across global reference model both geometrically and functionally. All
different phases of the project, and parallel space arrangements are topological connections within the model are made simpler, and
needed to support different activities, for instance, when planning much more stable, if established through the Common Reference
the design process or performing naval architectural calculations. Model.

Whether the space arrangement is intended for theoretical analysis, From the initial phase of a project, when the first layout and General
routing, functional specification or statistical calculations, the Arrangement are defined, the information that is added builds up
important demands on the process and on the model are that it the Common Reference Model. The entities needed to represent this
enables frequent changes and that modelled data is reusable. The model may be sculptured surfaces, plane surfaces and general
need to handle several different space arrangements and build volume primitives, all topologically connected to each other. This
strategies in a ship project puts demands both on the model and on early geometry does not need to be very precise; the outer surface,
the design process itself. There is a need for a consistent and for example, can be quite simple. Because the Common Reference
complete model that can be used in a consistent process. This Model is topologically connected, it can accommodate updates and
consistency and completeness become possible only if all disciplines changes through the automatic recreation of data when more
in all phases of the project are referencing the same underlying precise information becomes available.
model data.

This paper will describe how this can be achieved to reduce design
man-hours and increase the quality of planning, design and
production data.

‘..the Common Reference Model is the

foundation used by all disciplines within all
phases of a project. It serves as a global reference
model both geometrically and functionally...’ Figure 1: A typical Reference Model.

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 Efficient Space Management in Ship Design - an AVEVA White Paper

3. 3D General Arrangement

One of the results of the General Arrangement design, the Common Examples of such new methods are:
Reference Model is a 3D model, created with 3D design tools and
defining a space arrangement with various zones and • topological 3D modelling using 2D drafting tools
compartments. This is a different, and more powerful, design • translating 2D drawings into topological 3D models.
approach than has traditionally been employed.
These methods involve various familiar 2D functions, such as
At this stage of the design, the focus is on functional questions such trimming or extending, but generate fully topological 3D reference
as, ‘At which positions are the fire zone limits?’, ‘What is the height objects in the background. The 2D functions do have some
between decks?’, ‘Where should the bulkhead be positioned if this limitations, for example, when describing complicated knuckled
main engine is used?’ structures in more than one direction, but these cases are
efficiently handled through specialised functions with 3D
The answers to these questions are traditionally compiled into a capabilities.
General Arrangement drawing. Using a general-purpose CAD tool is,
of course, a quick and simple way of creating this drawing, but one
which will not initiate a continuous design process using a stable The reference objects created can be defined to either represent a
reference model which will be valid throughout the entire project. physical boundary (such as a bulkhead) or a logical boundary (for
example, the boundary between two painting areas within a
To get the design process started, and to maintain a flexible compartment). By assigning properties to the reference objects,
workflow, new methods of modelling and registering the reference they can be identified as specific ship elements with all design
model are necessary. These methods transform the established decisions and intents associated with them and available for
workflow into a process which generates the full reference model subsequent design activities. One such activity is to actually model
with all topology. the steel on the reference objects representing physical boundaries

Figure 2: Reference Model generated in the General Arrangement process. Figure 3: Example of a knuckled longitudinal bulkhead.

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 Efficient Space Management in Ship Design - an AVEVA White Paper

4. Automatic Subdivision into Space 5. Change and Reuse of Data

Arrangements
Projects with a well defined and fully developed reference model are
When the General Arrangement and layout work has resulted in a well equipped to handle changes, both smaller and more substantial
Common Reference Model, all the necessary information is available ones, in a straightforward way.
to begin defining spaces which will become the various zones and
compartments. The traditional approach is to define these Changes such as the refinement of the outer shell surface, the
individual spaces one by one, by manual selections and operations. moving of a bulkhead or even a complete rearrangement of a deck
In complicated areas this work is difficult, time consuming and zone are applied to the elements of the reference model. Because of
prone to errors which can result in overlapping or void spaces. their topological relationship to the reference model, the members
However, the Common Reference Model is fully topological and, by of the structural model, as well as the space arrangements, all share
using this information, the space arrangement can be created using the ability to automatically adapt to the changes.
an automatic subdivision algorithm.
A ship model based on these principles can therefore readily
The automatic subdivision process starts with a volume envelope, accommodate even drastic changes, a valuable advantage when
defined either by a selection of limits from the common reference developing complex designs such as cruise ships or naval vessels
model, a general volume definition, or a space in a previously and which greatly facilitates design reuse for sister ships and
created space arrangement. The next step is to select any number of variants.
suitable limits from the Common Reference Model. These limits are
applied to the selected envelope, and an automatic subdivision into
spaces within an arrangement is performed. Depending on the type
of arrangement and on users’ decisions, the spaces created may be ‘A ship model based on these principles
further subdivided, forming a space arrangement hierarchy. The
individual spaces are logically turned into zones and compartments, can therefore readily accommodate even
with which, depending on the purpose of the arrangement, a drastic changes, a valuable advantage
variety of data may be associated.
when developing complex designs such
An arrangement used for design planning and follow-up requires as cruise ships or naval vessels and
different associated data compared with an arrangement used for
naval architectural calculations. However, all arrangements share
which greatly facilitates design reuse
the same common basic data related to the geometry and volume of for sister ships and variants...’
the spaces. All spaces can also report on their geometries and
topologies, such as which space is on the other side of a space
boundary, or in which space and arrangement a given point is
located.

A number of space arrangements are required early in a project.

Naval architectural calculations must be performed, the design
must be planned, coordinated and monitored, the block definition
plan must be developed and analysed, and so on. To support all
these parallel activities, the ability to share and reuse modelling
information is essential. A topological reference to a common
reference object (for example, a deck) is made in several parallel
space arrangements as well as by all other modelling objects, such
as steel structures and equipment.
Figure 4: Part of an automatically created compartment arrangement.

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 Efficient Space Management in Ship Design - an AVEVA White Paper

6. The Usage of Space Arrangements

Within AVEVA Marine, a number of specific functions each benefit Such additional usage starts very early with the system definition
from specialised space arrangements; for example: and the P&ID. A schematic designer can use the early arrangements
as backdrops for system drawings and can make preliminary
• The Layout Manager creates the space arrangement representing equipment placement in the created compartments, or pick up
the full layout of the ship. Information is added to the spaces and information on the function and characteristics of compartments
the space boundaries and the arrangement may be analysed, and compartment boundaries.
compared and matched with the requirements.
• The Design Coordinator defines the fire zones and creates
arrangements that reserve spaces for different disciplines. The
arrangement is used to extract space contents and information
about systems that pass through a space.
• The Design Planner will make a space arrangement representing
the design blocks. Based on this arrangement, planning and
estimation on design contents may be made, drawing lists
created and design work estimated and followed up.
• The Naval Architect will subdivide the ship into watertight
compartments and perform hydrostatic and hydrodynamic
analysis.
• The Production Planner will create a space arrangement
representing the production blocks. Based on this arrangement,
estimates on work content, weight and size can be made and
followed up. This arrangement is also used as the production
block structure for block splitting and detail design. Figure 5: A schematic diagram on a backdrop.
• The Painting Planner uses a space arrangement which further
subdivides the compartment arrangement into painting areas. The ability of the spatial model to quickly provide geometric and
This arrangement is used for painting area planning and relational information is exploited in various applications in which
estimates. information from the surroundings influences the 3D modelling.
One example of this is the definition of fire insulation.
Downstream, the created space arrangements, together with the Compartments are defined with purposes according to the SOLAS
associated data, are further used by other disciplines. The type of classification. With this information added, the compartment
information available varies with the type of space arrangement, boundaries automatically adopt the correct insulation code. The
but there is a common set of data and functionality which can be model is then used for further planning and cost estimation and for
exploited. Geometric and volume data is available for all the semi-automatic generation of the symbolic insulation
arrangements, as well as support for general space arrangement arrangement drawings.
information such as:

• information on what modelled items are inside a space

• handling the transition between geometry and functional
structure. For example, finding correct spaces in different
arrangements from a 3D point, or finding the neighbouring space
on the other side of a space boundary.

Figure 6: Detail of a typical symbolic view.

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 Efficient Space Management in Ship Design - an AVEVA White Paper

The Usage of Space Arrangements (continued)

Later in the design process, the model information available via

systems and build strategies will, of course, cross space boundaries.
Calculations of various kinds still have to be made on the exact
contents of a space; for example to calculate areas, weights,
volumes or quantities to be used for planning, analysis or follow-up.
To support these tasks, an extract of all available model information
is made, intersected by the space boundaries to exactly fit within
the space.

The extracted information is used only for calculations. Once Figure 7: Extracted
information used for
completed, only the results, not the extracted model data, are calculations and analysis.
stored. When a new calculation is made at a later stage, the
extraction will automatically be repeated to use the most up to date
model information.

7. Conclusions

This paper has described how multiple space arrangements may be

defined, changed and used in a ship project, supplying accurate
information to different functions and through different phases of
the project. The main characteristics are as follows:

• A Common Reference Model, topologically connected, which

serves as the foundation for the space arrangement work.
• One efficient method to establish such a reference model is to
generate it within the General Arrangement process. It may then
be maintained and updated through the lifetime of the project.
• Different space arrangements are generated for different
purposes. They are created by automatic subdivision of a volume
serving as an envelope. All arrangements share references to the
Common Reference Model.
• Changes are handled through the Common Reference Model and
its established topological connections. When needed, the space
arrangements are automatically recreated, along with all other
information topologically connected to the changed reference ‘...multiple space arrangements may be
model.
• A space arrangement is always created to fulfil a certain function. defined, changed and used in a ship
The spaces in the arrangement support various calculations and project, supplying accurate information to
are associated with data relevant to the selected function.
Structural and system information inside a space can be extracted
different functions and through different
and used for any type of calculation. phases of the project...’

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