Generating detailed warship layouts is crucial to check technical feasibility and performance consistent with emergent requirement elucidation during early stage design. However, generating feasible detailed layouts is a complex and time consuming task. Even today, detailed layout plans are often manually drawn using CAD software, taking up to 150 work hours to complete a single feasible layout plan, as found by the Netherlands Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO). As a result, the number of layout variations that can be generated and analysed is limited. This typically means that further detailed layout generation is postponed, increasing the risk of costly sizing and integration issues later in the design process. Therefore, a method that enables rapid insight into layout sizing issues is required. This paper elaborates on the mathematical working mechanisms of the WARship GEneral ARrangement (WARGEAR) tool, that has been developed to support naval architects in detailing ship arrangements to space level in a matter of minutes. Contributions are: (1) a probabilistic staircase placement algorithm, (2) a network-based approach combined with probabilistic selection for allocation of spaces to compartments, (3) the use of cross-correlation to quickly arrange spaces, and (4) a ‘carving’-based approach to ensure connectivity. A representative WARGEAR application case study is presented. This test shows how WARGEAR is able to confirm the feasibility of future warship arrangements at a high level of detail within minutes.

During the concept definition design phase, significant effort is paid to the detailing of the internal layout of ships. At the Dutch Defence Materiel Organisation first a high level ‘functional arrangement’ is generated, which is further detailed into a ‘general arrangement plan’ (GAP), to validate the functional arrangement. The GAP generation takes considerable effort. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel method, called WARGEAR (WARship GEneral ARrangement), to support the designer with the generation of GAPs. The method aims to provide quick insight in the feasibility of the functional arrangement, i.e. check whether all spaces fit and can be connected via hallways and staircases according to international and naval rules. WARGEAR applies a new seed and growth algorithm as well as a ship’s network representation to semi-automatically generate detailed layouts based on predefined functional arrangements. A multi-deck and multi-compartment case study is presented as a proof of concept of the tool.

During the early stages of ship design a set of design requirements needs to be selected, accounting for both financial and technical feasibility, and operational effectiveness. This process of requirements elucidation creates a need for information regarding the various design alternatives and their effect on the feasibility and effectiveness of the design requirements. Therefore various methods have been developed to support a naval architect. However, when one considers an internal layout and process driven ships, ships where the arrangement of spaces aboard has a strong influence on the effectiveness of the ship's operational processes, a gap in available methods have been identified. This paper proposes a method based on queueing networks that allows a naval architect to develop a model to study the effects of different arrangements on the execution of various sets of operational processes in a ship. Using this model a better understanding of the interaction and the interdependencies between the ship's arrangement and it's operational processes can be obtained. This understanding will eventually improve the requirements elucidation process and lead to the development of better sets of design requirements.