MSc Advanced Naval Architecture

This module aims to provide you with an understanding of the response of surface ships, at both a global and a local level. Structural analysis and design will both be discussed.

This module will teach the following:

• introduction to ship structures and structural design principles
• loads acting on ship structures
• longitudinal strength of surface ships
• analysis and design of columns and beam-columns
• analysis and design of un-stiffened and stiffened plated structures
• design of hull girder mid-ship section components from first principles

On completion of this module, you'll have gained:

• an understanding of the nature of ship hull structures, the role of various components and ship structural design issues
• an understanding of load action and its effects at a local and a global level
• an understanding of how to analyse the global response of surface ships
• an understanding of the basics of ship hull girder analysis at a local level
• an understanding of a systematic ship structural design procedure at a global level

Assessment and feedback are in the form of a two-hour exam. You need to gain an overall mark of 50% to pass the module.

This module aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to the marine regulatory framework, including background to its development, description of the current framework and future enhancements, an in-depth explanation of the theoretical background, nature and meaning of each method of assessment and a quantitative demonstration of the available routes and criteria used in assessing safety.

This module includes the theoretical background to the development, relevant theoretical models, content, similarities and differences, advantages and disadvantages deriving from the use of various rules and regulations:

• Maritime Regulatory System – Introduction
• Key stakeholders in Maritime Regulations and Enforcement
• Imo, FLAG States and Classification Societies
• EU regulatory Politics and Policy
• Shipping and Environment
• ISM and Human element in Shipping
• Rule Development process and Philosophy
• Offshore Regulations

At the end of this module, you'll:

• understand the structure and functioning of Marine Regulatory Framework including, IMO, Classification Societies and National Authorities
• have knowledge on International regulations under IMO framework including, SOLAS, MARPOL, ISM and Offshore Regulations
• understand the issues with maritime and environmental safety and how rules are developed to address these issues
• understand the meanings of Prescriptive, probabilistic, performance and equivalent rules and approaches
• have developed awareness about the future regulatory developments that may affect the design and operations of the ships and other floating structures

Assessment and feedback are in the form of two course work assignments and an exam. One assignment will be individual, and the other will be a group assignment (max 3-4 people per group). The final exam will be one hour long and purely focusing on the Fundamentals of Marine Regulatory Framework. You'll be provided with the material for the exam.

This module aims to provide the fundamental concept of the energy balance of a motorship and the major contributors to the performance losses of a ship in-service. These include the resistance/power increase due to wind, waves, rudder actions/hull drift, hull roughness (including coating), biofouling. The module also aims to discuss the fundamentals of these contributors and describes how to estimate the ship performance losses (i.e. in terms of power increase or speed loss) due to these effects.

This module covers:

• introduction to ship powering in service
• theory of added resistance due to waves
• numerical and experimental calculation of added resistance due to waves
• experimental techniques for naval architects
• towing tank experiments
• roughness effect of biofouling – biofouling, fouling control coatings, concepts of boundary layer theory
• the effect of hull fouling on the performance of marine vehicles
• added resistance due to wind, rudder actions/hull drift

At the end of this module you'll be able to:

• acquire a knowledge and understanding of the technical factors which affect the performance of a ship and the machinery at sea
• acquire a knowledge and understanding of the main causes of performance losses (in-service) associated with the hull and propulsion, and methods to estimate these losses
• understand the techniques used for laboratory measurement of added resistance

Assessment and feedback are in the form of two coursework assignments. The first assignment requires the calculation of the added resistance due to waves using a set of empirical formulae and potential flow-based software package. The second assignment requires the calculation of added resistance due to waves using experimental techniques, and the calculation of added resistance values due to fouling, wind, rudder actions/hull drift using various methods.

This module aims to introduce the students to the theoretical background of marine CFD using the finite volume method. This module also aims to illustrate the key ideas related to discretisation and solution of the fluid flow governing equations for incompressible flows. It also aims to discuss some key issues related to the use of CFD packages in practical applications

This module covers:

• briefing of basic CFD procedure
• introduce fluid flow governing equations and their simplified forms
• introduce CFD mesh generation
• discretization of governing equations and boundary conditions
• introduce temporal discretization
• the solution of discretised equations
• CFD software package use

At the end of this module you'll be able to:

• be familiar with the basis for the key equations of CFD for incompressible flow in finite volume form
• understand in principle how these equations may be discretised and solved numerically
• apply commercial CFD package to simple two-dimensional engineering problem

Assessments are in the form of exam.

This module aims to demonstrate the fundamental concepts of ship’s controllability and a ship’s control surfaces, and to explain the factors influencing their performance. It also aims to provide the ship operability concept from a seakeeping perspective and teach the superior seakeeping characteristics of various advanced marine vehicles.

This module covers:

• the ship operability concept and the calculation methods
• the fundamentals of station keeping
• the concept and knowledge of seakeeping considerations in design
• the seakeeping features of advanced marine vehicles
• the fundamental concept of controllability
• control surfaces and applications
• design of marine rudders
• course-keeping and course-changing control

At the end of this module you'll be able to:

• acquire an advanced knowledge of ship manoeuvrability and a ship’s control surfaces
• design a rudder for a given ship and develop its course-keeping and course-changing controller
• apply the ship operability concept into a real case study and be able to understand the factors affecting the operability of a ship

There will be two coursework assignments in this module as summative assessment. The first coursework will be about ship operability and the second coursework will be about ship controllability. Summative assessment will be used in conjunction and alignment with formative assessment as appropriate for this module.

This module aims to demonstrate how the principles and methods of risk analysis are undertaken and reflected in safety assessment. Risk analysis offers a variety of methods, tools and techniques that can be applied in solving problems covering different phases of the life cycle of a vessel (design, construction, operation and end-of-life) and, as such, this module will also elaborate on the practicalities of its application to a range of marine scenarios.

This module covers:

• safety, risk and risk analysis; key terminology; lessons learnt from past experience; human factors.
• formal safety assessment
• hazard Identification
• frequency analysis and consequence modelling
• quantitative risk assessment methods
• risk control and decision support, cost benefit analysis
• human Factors and Safety culture in the maritime
• industry guest lectures addressing topical issues related to maritime safety and risk

At the end of this module you'll be able to:

• understand the concepts and importance of safety, risk and of all requisite fundamentals enabling quantification of risk in the maritime context
• utilise methods and tools undertaking fundamental studies, specific to any component, system or function and in general first-principles implementation to life-cycle design
• understand and have experience of the use of risk analysis in the marine field via related case studies (risk-based ship design, operation and regulation).
• be able to appreciate components of a formal safety assessment and apply it for indicative problems of maritime operations

Assessment and feedback are in the form of one final exam (during Semester-2 diet) and two coursework assignments (assignment-one focusses on accident investigation, assignment-two is a safety assessment case study).

The overall aim of this module is to provide you with an enriched experience in the selection, conceptualisation and designing of a naval vessel or an offshore asset. The group projects will also include a thorough market review, concept and focused design studies and techno-economic analysis in a simulated design project environment. It will also provide you with an opportunity to present your project outputs to a panel involving academic/industry staff.

The objectives of this module are:

• to develop a broad but nevertheless critical review of prospects for techno-economic growth in maritime related activities in a particular context/area of the world. Based on this to evolve and present a business case to justify and guide the design choice.
• to propose and evaluate specific design-related activities with a view to developing a design project to a concept level but with substantial calculations in at least one design objective. The design concepts could cover any key areas such as, for example, offshore hydrocarbon support, marine construction/repair diversification, maritime transportation, tourism and leisure.
• the detailed design studies should demonstrate analytical ability and understanding of engineering principles and problem-solving techniques, creativity and self-reflection as well as ability to integrate and apply results of multi-disciplinary nature.
• to be able to present and defend the ensuing design choices and defend any recommendations and analysis to a panel.

This module covers:

• project selection through establishing a sound business case
• design project materialisation in a collaborative context and against a justifiable timeline
• efficient and critical use of the computational tools that fit best to each design step and management techniques
• written and oral justification of the selections made and the results obtained

On completion of the module you're expected to be able to:

• identify and prioritize the key-design issues along with their basic interrelations in the context of naval architecture, marine transportation and offshore engineering
• materialize a design project according to a given timeline through design steps along the key-design-issues priority path
• work efficiently and openly in a collaborative context involving different cultures and expertise and ability to present work to audience with confidence
• choose at each design step the proper rationally-based computation methods

The assessment of each group and group member will be made through continuous project management, the submission and presentation of the interim report as well as the submission and presentation of the final report and peer assignment.

This module aims to familiarise you with the challenges of deploying optimisation approaches in the engineering design process, including the pros and cons of different approaches widely adopted for single and multi-variable problems. The module will also address challenges associated with optimisation using resource-intensive analysis techniques, and the challenges of shape representation and shape optimisation with particular reference to ship hull form optimisation.

This module covers:

• design optimisation
• concepts of objectives, goals, constraints and bounds
• advantages and disadvantages of single variable outcomes
• golden-section search, Newtons method; parabolic interpolation and Brent’s method
• application of constraints via penalty functions
• advantages and disadvantages of Multi-variable algorithms: Gradient free and gradient-based approaches
• multi criteria optimisation: aggregate objective function, trade-off approach
• pareto optimality
• stochastic techniques: the genetic algorithm
• meta-modelling techniques: response surfaces, neural networks
• geometry representations
• the control-point model: basic properties and algorithms for simple and composite Bezier curves
• B-splines, Non-uniform Rational B-splines (NURBS)
• curves, surfaces and volume (trivariate NURBS) splines
• novel representations to overcome NURBS limitations: T-splines, hierarchical B-splines, Geometric transformations for ship-hull optimisation
• FFD: Free-Form Deformations
• lackenby transformation
• parametric modelling

On completion of the module you're expected to be able to:

• understand the ideas of design optimisation including objectives, goals and constraints, and concepts, methodology, advantages and disadvantages of a number of common optimisation algorithms
• select and apply appropriate algorithms using industry-standard software for a range of problems in Engineering design
• understand ideas of meta-modelling including response surfaces and neural networks
• understand ideas of Computer-Aided Geometric Design (CAGD) and basic transformation techniques used for ship hull-form optimisation

Summative assessments in this module will evaluate your learning, knowledge and proficiency in the context of advanced ship design. Summative assessment will be used in conjunction and alignment with formative assessment as appropriate for this module.

This module aims to provide you with an understanding of the financial and operational issues that companies that manage or own ships in the various sectors of merchant shipping face, both charter and liner shipping, as well as an acquaintance with maritime sector infrastructures.

This module covers:

• international seaborne trade
• economic model for perfect competition conditions
• shipping markets and commodities transported
• charter shipping and the liner market
• supply chain management and logistics
• marine transport systems infrastructures
• geography of marine transport

At the end of this module you'll be able to:

• develop an understanding of the application of basic economic concepts in the shipping sector, its role in the world economy and the role of market sectors in seaborne transportation
• be in a position to assume managerial decisions concerning the charter market sector (wet and dry bulk cargoes)
• make decisions involving liner shipping issues and maritime transport system infrastructures

Assessment and feedback are in the form of a two-hours final exam during the Semester 1 exam diet and a group coursework assignment on selected contemporary topics of shipping economics and market sector analysis.

This module aims to provide:

• principles and methodologies to analyse and evaluate pertinent issues concerning the use of engineering materials and structural integrity in the marine environment
• practical tools for considering structural integrity and structural fitness-for-service problems throughout the design life cycle in the marine environment

The module will teach the following:

1. Introduction:

1. Structural design philosophies
2. In service failure modes (fracture, fatigue, creep and corrosion) (overview)
3. Application of materials testing (tools of failure analysis)
4. Methodologies of materials and process selection

2. Materials specification and sourcing:

1. Metallic materials (Steels, Aluminium, and Metal Matrix Composite (MMC))
2. Mechanical properties, manufacturing methods, deformation and materials forming, standards and Industrial applications
3. Composite (Polymer Matrix Composite (PMC))
4. Composite materials in offshore structure

3. Joining and welding:

1. Advanced manufacturing process
2. Joining and Welding in metals and composites
3. Residual stress: origins and measurement of residual stress in Metallic and Composite component

4. Fracture mechanics:

1. Stress analysis of cracks
2. Fracture toughness
3. Connecting the fracture theories, critical crack sizes (ductile vs brittle) & NDE
4. Limitations of LEFM, Crack Tip Plasticity
5. Mixed-mode fracture problems, KIc testing
6. Elastic-plastic fracture mechanics (EPFM), J-Integral, JIc testing, Application Case Studies
7. Fractography

5. Fatigue:

1. Fatigue life analysis
2. Stress-Life and how to develop and use S-N curve
3. Cyclic stress/strain behaviour leading to hardening or softening (microstructure origins)
4. Fatigue crack initiation, damage tolerant lifetime
5. Corrosion fatigue
6. Notch effects on fatigue, fatigue crack growth testing
7. Fatigue fractography case studies

6. Corrosion:

1. Corrosion prevention and mitigation
2. Embrittlement mechanisms
3. Environmentally assisted crack growth

7. Creep and stress rupture:

1. Time-dependent mechanical behaviour
2. Mechanisms of creep deformation
3. Structural changes during creep
4. Creep-fatigue interaction
5. Creep under combined stresses

8. Nondestructive evaluation:

1. Introduction to methods for determining the presence of defects and their size
2. Structural health monitoring
3. Inspection reliability
4. Defect and remaining life assessment

On completion of the module, you're expected to be able to:

• show a systematic understanding of structural integrity and fitness-for-service issues
• demonstrate an in-depth awareness of the current practice and its limitations in aspects of structural integrity
• develop a critical and analytical approach towards the engineering aspects of structural integrity
• be able to confidently assess the applicability of the tools of structural integrity to new problems and apply them appropriately

Assessment and feedback are in the form of coursework.

Digitalisation has become an essential part of the maritime industry, ultimately steered at making the sector more innovative and productive, particularly for Autonomous Marine Vehicles (AMVs).

A digital twin is a dynamic digital representation of an AMV, capable of replicating significant aspects of autonomy, including dynamics, control, guidance, and navigation. The idea is to create a virtual version of the AMV to achieve a realistic, digital simulation of the system utilising the state-of-the-art physical models.

The digital version of the system can be then utilised to mirror the behaviour of the real-world twin using the sensor updates and historical data. The digital twin can be employed to perform complex scenarios simulation to mitigate loss or performance decay by recommending changes in the use of the AMV and increases the success-probability of the mission.

Mathematical modelling and simulation of AMV is a necessary part of the digital-twin contact development. This course aims to provide the student with the skills and knowledge required to model, simulate and then analyse the complex non-linear behaviour of AMV using MATLAB/Simulink.

This module covers:

Introduction

1. An introduction to Autonomous Marine Vehicles: capabilities and potential.
2. AMV Design parameters.
3. Overview of AMV Power and Propulsion.

Modelling and Dynamics of Autonomous Marine Vehicles

4. Hydrodynamic forces and moments.
5. Six degrees of freedom of equations of motions.
6. Models for wind waves and ocean currents.

Guidance, Navigation and Control

7. Reference models
8. Trajectory tracking and manoeuvring control
9. Control methods for AMV

Modelling of Power and Propulsion plant

10. Models for propellers and motors
11. Thrust and torque modelling

AVM Applications

12. Autopilot models
13. AMV Propulsion Plant Modelling and Simulation

On completion of the model you're expected to be able to:

• understand the fundamentals if digital twins idea and concepts; including the benefits of using digital twins for Autonomous vessels. Critically evaluate how the digital twin concept is utilized for replicating significant aspects of autonomy.
• assess the strength and weaknesses of the digital representation of the systems, interpret the mathematical equations utilized to replicate significant aspects of autonomy
• implement efficient numerical models to develop dynamic simulation of real AMV problems, including behaviour prediction and performance optimisation using MATLAB/Simulink
• design test procedures to evaluate the model performances. Develop an appropriate experimental research design for an engineering case study taking into account practical limitations.

Assessment and feedback are in the form of modelling and simulation of autonomous vessels, make use of numerical simulation techniques to obtain knowledge and to comprehend the system dynamics, behaviour and response. You're requested to submit two reports, the developed digital twin models, and give a presentation describing your projects.