Two-stage layout–size optimization method for prow stiffeners

Designing sophisticate ship structures that satisfy several design criteria simultaneously with minimum weight and cost is an important engineering issue. For a ship structure composed of a shell and stiffeners, this issue is more serious because their mutual effect has to be addressed. In this study, a two-stage optimization method is proposed for the conceptual design of stiffeners in a ship's prow. In the first stage, a topology optimization method is used to determine a potential stiffener distribution based on the optimal results, whereupon stiffeners are constructed according to stiffener generative theory and the material distribution. In the second stage, size optimization is conducted to optimize the plate and stiffener sections simultaneously based on a parametric model. A final analysis model of the ship-prow structure is presented to assess the validity of this method. The analysis results show that the two-stage optimization method is effective for stiffener conceptual design, which provides a reference for designing actual stiffeners for ship hulls.