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Ship lifecycle software solutions (SHIPLYS)

SHIPLYS is a three-year project seeking to develop simulation and modelling tools designed to save time and minimise costs across the entire lifecycle of a ship (design, production, O&M, and end of life).

Running since September 2016 and funded by the European Commission under Horizon 2020 – the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014–20) – the project brings together a team of 12 leading maritime companies and research facilities from seven countries, coordinated by TWI.

Supporting small businesses

The core aim of SHIPLYS is to develop and integrate rapid virtual prototyping tools with lifecycle tools that will be compatible with existing early design software (see Figure 1). The project is responding to the needs of SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) naval architects, shipbuilders and ship-owners, who, to survive in the world market, must reduce the timespans and costs of design and production. SHIPLYS will enable these SMEs to reliably produce better ship concepts through rapid virtual prototyping, and to meet the increasing requirements for LCCA (lifecycle cost analyses), environmental assessments, risk assessments and end-of-life considerations.

The calculation and modelling involved in these processes are difficult and time consuming, especially for SMEs without large numbers of trained staff and tools. This is partly due to challenges in consolidating data between incompatible tools and formats for different design stages: conceptual hull design; the finite element calculations feeding preliminary and detailed designs; and virtual prototyping simulation models. These difficulties are compounded by the absence of an industry-specific lifecycle modelling technique and a lack of information to support reliable decision-making. SHIPLYS aims to address these challenges.

Key objectives

The main objective of the project is to improve the competitiveness of European shipyards by supporting SME naval architects, shipbuilders and ship owners through:

  • development of a virtual prototyping system to incorporate LCCAs and environmental and risk assessment criteria, for fast and cost-effective evaluation of potential alternatives
  • the addition of multi-criterion decision analysis (MCDA) techniques to support decision making across the short and long term, based on explicit user-defined decision criteria
  • development of a set of good practice guidelines for the lifecycle management of ships
Figure 1. SHIPLYS software concept
Figure 1. SHIPLYS software concept

Work programme

SHIPLYS aims to build on existing experience in the shipping sector, and transfer experience from the development of lifecycle modelling and rapid virtual prototyping in other industry sectors.

Three early ship design scenarios will serve as a base for testing of SHIPLYS software functionalities:

  • Scenario 1: Optimisation of a novel hybrid propulsion system used in a short-route ferry
  • Scenario 2: Development of conceptual ship design with inputs from risk-based lifecycle assessments
  • Scenario 3: Development of software to support early planning and costing of ship retrofitting, accounting for lifecycle costs and risk assessments

The project will start by defining the decision context, i.e. the detailed knowledge of each scenario and stakeholder’s perspective, and reviewing existing design and assessment tools and techniques. This will clarify the baseline for evaluation and the required level of detail and complexity, as well as the available data and resources. Then, the required data will be collected and processed using data sensitivity and uncertainty analysis techniques. The baseline and collected data will enable the project team to determine the performance of different models for comparison.

In SHIPLYS, these models for comparison will aim to minimise the LCC, environmental impact and risks, depending on the objective of each stakeholder. All this information will then be fed into the MCDA module, and the final results calculated. SHIPLYS will interpret the results and provide recommendations to the various stakeholders. This will be followed by integration and optimisation of the rapid virtual prototyping modules and SHIPLYS lifecycle tools (SHIPLYS LCT) and their adaption for the development of generic models.

The project includes the following nine work packages (WP). The work process is shown in Figure 2:

  • WP1: Ethics requirements
  • WP2: Stakeholder scenarios
  • WP3: Specify requirements for integration of rapid virtual prototyping and lifecycle tools
  • WP4: Data quality assessment and database development
  • WP5: Develop models for LCCA, environmental assessment, risk assessment and multi-criteria decision making
  • WP6: Implement rapid virtual design and production process prototyping generators
  • WP7: Integration and optimisation of the rapid virtual prototyping modules and SHIPLYS lifecycle tools and their adaption for the development of generic models
  • WP8: Test, demonstration, verification and development of good practice guidelines
  • WP9: Dissemination, business plan and exploitation, and software training

An external industrial advisory group – the SHIPLYS Stakeholders Advisory Committee – comprises experts from major stakeholders who are interested in the objectives and results of the project. Their engagement will help SHIPLYS stay focused on the needs of the industrial community, learn first-hand from a wider set of expertise, and maximise the impact of SHIPLYS on its target market.

Progress so far

The project has made a good start and work continues apace. The ultimate outcome from the project will be the SHIPLYS LCT: a suite of tools providing lifecycle cost analysis, environmental assessment, risk assessment, and decision support functionalities.

SHIPLYS will demonstrate the capabilities of the SHIPLYS LCT using three representative scenarios, and share the resulting knowledge among all stakeholders.

For information on the SHIPLYS project, please email info@shiplys.com or visit www.shiplys.com.

For further information about Integrity Management, please email contactus@twi.co.uk

Figure 2. The work process of the SHIPLYS project
Figure 2. The work process of the SHIPLYS project
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