ABSTRACT

The first step in designing a marine vehicle is the selection of the main parameters which define the size of the vehicle. The size must ensure carriage of the requisite payload or deadweight during operation at sea according to the volume or capacity available in the ship. The size of the ship must also satisfy the technical performance requirements of the ship as defined in the mission requirements. It is difficult to do all scientific calculations at the beginning when the ship has not been fully defined, and one has to take recourse to statistical data and experience to ensure selection of parameters satisfying technical requirements. Thus, the parameter selection process has evolved over the last hundreds of years based on the data of ships built so far. This process can also be extended to determine the size of new types of vehicles and structures. This chapter discusses the parameter selection method as the first step of the vehicle design process.