Multidisciplinary Optimization of Naval Ship Design and Mission Effectiveness

The objective of this program is to apply newly developed Multidisciplinary Optimization (MDO) methods to the ship design optimization process. This proposal presents the background and work necessary to adapt methodologies for the design of complex systems developed at the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory (ASDL) at Georgia Tech under the sponsorship of the Office of Naval Research, in support of their Affordability measurement and Prediction methods initiative to the arrears of naval architecture and marine engineering In Phase I, three mission capabilities were identified i.e. Marine Warfare, Littoral Surface Warfare, and Littoral Anti-Submarine Warfare. Measures of Effectiveness (MOE) were developed across 3 dimensions for each focused mission area: DETECT, TRACK, and ENGAGE. Measures of Performance (MOP) were identified. Ship and platform-specific MOPs were used to calculate the MOE Phase II is intended to provide traceable linkages between Measures of Performance (MOP) and Measures of Effectiveness (MOE). Traditionally, focus has been on meeting specific design goals but recent efforts have shifted toward identifying particular mission profiles. This results in a unique two-way mapping: 1.) The ability to change performance characteristics and observe the impact on mission effectiveness 2.) Modeling of mission effectiveness enables designers to change mission profiles to see if mission requirements are satisfied. Demonstration of the framework capability to support at least two ship designs with disparate missions will be carried out to show the robustness and wide applicability of this method. Also, the optimization methodology and framework will be demonstrated using future ship concept designs being formulated by the Center for Innovative Ship Design at NSWC-CD.