Abstract
The paper discusses some proposals concerning the possible use of graphical design model to guide a preliminary ship design process. Such a model represents by itself the graphical relationships between free variables and constraints. Main ship dimensions are considered as free variables; requirements due to deadweight, freeboard, stability and seakeeping abilities are treated as constraints. During the iteration process a designer calls for the graphical design model to be projected on the computer display. He is able to change any input value and then to investigate the results of his decision on the design model projected on the screen. To discover whether such a conception has any chance to be realized in the future, some experiments with simulated design process for bulkcarrier and chemicalcarrier have been carried out. It was observed such a process converged faster than a similar one where no interactive graphical design model was applied. Some advantages may by gained by the employment of such simulated preliminary design process when teaching students the ship design theory.
Various alternatives of graphical design models are proposed and widely discussed.
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