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Managing Design Changes in Shipbuilding: P oposing a Real-Time
Simula ion Dashboa d
Jisang Ha1,*, Janica A. B onson1, and Hen ique M. Gaspa 1
1 No wegian Uni e si y o Science and Technology, Ålesund, No way
Abs ac . A design simula ion model wi h a uni ied da a o ma is demons a ed in his wo k, ocusing on: i)
how design changes a ec o he objec s and a ibu es; ii) wha in e aces a e equi ed o his; and iii) he
ad an ages o he implemen ed model h ough a eal- ime ship 3D model. T acking design changes and
e isions h oughou he ship design and p oduc ion p ocess is known o be a challenge, especially when i
in ol es mul iple s akeholde s wo king on 2D, 3D, and eal-wo ld objec s. I is pa amoun o unde s and he
impac ha agmen a ion has on d awings and model e sions ac oss di e en so wa e and iles. As a solu ion
o his issue, da a in e ope abili y and a uni ied da a o ma ha e eme ged om di e en ac o s, and a emp s
a e cu en ly being conduc ed o accomplish his h ough neu al o ma s such as Open Class 3D Exchange
Fo ma (OCX) and STEP ISO 10303. In his s udy, we u ilized he NTNU expe imen al essel “Gunne us” as
he a ge essel. We collec ed design da a o Gunne us be o e and a e he design changes and implemen ed
he design simula ion as an open web-based model o obse e he design change p ocess in eal ime. As a
esul , we we e able o implemen a model o e i y he ship design ha changes acco ding o he design e sion
o each design objec , especially he compa men s. Fu he mo e, we p o ided bo h e sion-based and ime-
based iews o he a ge ship’s design o assis designe s and p oduce s. In addi ion, we p oposed an ini ial
s uc u e o ep esen ing changes o e e sions o each design objec .
Keywo ds: Ship Design, Da a In e ope abili y, Real-Time Design Simula ion, Uni ied Da a Fo ma , Ve sion
Con ol
1. In oduc ion
Th oughou he ship design and p oduc ion p ocess, design changes a e o en ini ia ed a each s age o a ious
easons. Howe e , i a design is changed and he changes a ec e sions ac oss di e en so wa e and iles, i is
challenging o unde s and he impac , and he e sions o he design d awings can be agmen ed a each s age.
This could be a eason o unin ended gaps be ween d awings and designs, especially be ween concep ual design,
de ailed design, and p oduc ion. As a solu ion o his issue, da a in e ope abili y and a uni ied da a o ma ha e
eme ged om di e en ac o s, and a emp s a e cu en ly being conduc ed o accomplish his h ough neu al
o ma s such as Open Class 3D Exchange Fo ma (OCX) and STEP ISO 10303. The e a e a ious p e ious s udies
and a emp s o u ilize i . A no able example is he collabo a ion be ween Damen, DNV, and NAPA, who used he
OCX s anda d o s eamline he classi ica ion e iew p ocess o a new ship design. This ini ia i e enabled he
di ec exchange and app o al o 3D models, eplacing adi ional 2D d awings and allowing designe s and
classi ica ion socie ies o wo k in pa allel, ul ima ely accele a ing he design cycle and educing isk in he ea ly
s ages o ship design [1][2]. One o he o he a emp s, SFI (Ship Func ional In o ma ion) sys em is a well-
es ablished classi ica ion and coding sys em de eloped o s anda dize ship in o ma ion o speci ica ion indexing,
cos accoun ing, and p ojec managemen ac oss shipya ds, shipowne s, and supplie s. I is a unc ion-o ien ed
sys em, g ouping componen s and sys ems logically o acili a e enginee ing, es ima ing, planning, pu chasing,
and p oduc ion p ocesses in shipbuilding [3].
In his s udy, we conside a me hod ha can be applied o he en i e ship design, a he han jus he hull,
machine y, and ou i ing, wi h limi ed co e age o li ecycle managemen me ics c i ical o shipowne s, because
exis ing me hods a e di icul o ollow he ship design his o y o ocus only on he hull, machine y, and ou i ing.
B onson e al. (2024) [4] e iewed da a models in ship design and cons uc ion and in es iga ed hei po en ial o
applica ion. The success o BIM can be applied o he shipbuilding indus y, and we wan o acili a e he
o ganiza ion, managemen , and con ex ualiza ion o da a used in shipbuilding by using da a om
CAE/CAD/CAM/PDM sys ems h ough a single sou ce o u h o ship da a [5].
* Co espondence o: [email p o ec ed]
16 h In e na ional Symposium on P ac ical Design o Ships and O he Floa ing S uc u es PRADS 2025
Ann A bo , MI, USA, Oc obe 19 h – 23 d 2025
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In his s udy, we implemen ed a design simula ion model wi h a uni ied da a o ma and demons a ed how
design changes a ec o he objec s and a ibu es, wha in e aces a e equi ed o his, and he ad an ages o he
implemen ed model h ough a eal- ime ship 3D model as shown in Figu e 1.
Figu e 1. This igu e p esen s an example o a eal- ime simula ion dashboa d o managing design changes in shipbuilding.
A design simula ion model wi h a uni ied da a o ma is demons a ed in his wo k, ocusing on: i) how design
changes a ec o he objec s and a ibu es; ii) wha in e aces a e equi ed o his; and iii) he ad an ages o he
implemen ed model h ough a eal- ime ship 3D model. In his s udy, we u ilized he NTNU expe imen al essel
“Gunne us” as he a ge essel. We collec ed Gunne us’ design da a be o e and a e he design changes and
implemen ed he design simula ion as an open web-based model o obse e he design change p ocess in eal- ime.
As a esul , we implemen ed a model o e i y he ship design ha changes acco ding o he design e sion o each
design objec , especially he compa men s. Fu he mo e, we p o ided bo h e sion-based and ime-based iews
o he a ge ship’s design o assis designe s and p oduce s. In addi ion, we p oposed an ini ial s uc u e o
ep esen ing changes o e e sions o each design objec .
2. Managing Design Changes in Shipbuilding
2.1 Da a ile s uc u e o e sion con ol simula ion
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While building he da a model and he model ha exp esses design changes, we need o ind he ela ion o
hie a chy be ween he da a. Commonly, da a managemen me hods, such as SFI, use g ouping ules o manage
da a ela ionships. Howe e , hese me hods show he ela ion be ween objec s o designs in an indi ec way. We
w o e he names di ec ly o show ela ed da a and conside ed whe he o link o node each design change e sion
based on whe he hey a e ela ed o each o he o no , o whe he hey a e comple ely independen designs.
The inpu equi emen s o he simula ion in his s udy a e as ollows: To pe o m design change simula ion
o compa men s, we need he name (o ID) o each compa men , a ibu es o pe o m calcula ions, and model
in o ma ion o olume- ela ed calcula ions and isualiza ion. In addi ion, he imes amp o each e ision is
equi ed o he design changes simula ion o be imeline-based ins ead o e sion-based. We also need in o ma ion
abou how each design changes he e sion ela es o each o he and which d awings o models a e ela ed o each
o he . We wan o ep esen his in a ee-like ep esen a ion based on e sion-based and imeline-based app oaches.
The da a objec s we u ilize o his will be in oduced in he nex sec ion.
2.2 JSON da a model o he simula ion
We u ilized a JSON objec in ou simula ion desc ibed in he sec ion 2.1. JSON (Ja aSc ip Objec No a ion)
is one o he mos common o ma s o exchanging da a on he web. The JSON da a model o his s udy has he
ollowing componen s and s uc u e as shown in Figu e 2.
Figu e 2. An example igu e p esen s a s uc u e o he JSON ile.
Fo ou Ve sion Managing Design Changes Simula ion, we c ea ed an example JSON ile as shown in Figu e
2. In he JSON ile, we o ganized each componen equi ed o ship design in o a angemen s, s uc u es, ship
speci ica ion, and imes amp. In his pape , we only used he A angemen s and imes amp pa s o hese
componen s. An A angemen consis s o he ollowing pa s: compa men s, in e ace, and elemen s. Each
elemen has a “name”, a ibu es, and a model. The a ibu es con ain nume ical alues ha desc ibe he elemen ,
and he model s o es geome y in o ma ion, including a 3d model ile. Ship speci ica ions a e used o he
calcula ion o alphanume ic changes. Times amp con ains in o ma ion abou he ime he JSON ile was c ea ed
o modi ied o e ision.
In addi ion, when designing o simula ing compa men s, addi ional in o ma ion abou he equipmen and
s uc u al componen s in each compa men is equi ed o compa men calcula ion. I i is also used o de ailed
design, such as equipmen and pipe a angemen s, addi ional speci ica ions, such as nozzle loca ion and di ec ion,
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equipmen loca ion, and p essu e equi ed by he equipmen , a e equi ed. Conside ing he possibili y o u he
expansion, his JSON ile con ains in o ma ion ha can be used o pe o m equipmen and pipe a angemen s.
2.3 Simula ion o managing design changes
This case aims o illus a e he ad an ages o he p oposed o m o e ision design change simula ion when
ep esen ing ime-based lines and e sion-based lines oge he . This ime-based simula ion is in luenced by
Building In o ma ion Modeling (BIM), which can be used in connec ion wi h Gan cha s o obse e he
cons uc ion p ocess o a building along wi h a imeline. We would like o show a simula ion ha u ilizes his in
e ms o ship design.
Figu e 3. Ben ly Sync ho4D BIM Solu ion showing simula ion wi h Gan Cha (Sou ce:
h ps://blog.ben ley.com/so wa e/wha -is-synch o-4d/)
This deli e y o e sion and ime-based simula ion oge he can signi ican ly assis designe s in wo a eas; i)
Reduce he numbe o a emp s ha a designe needs o con e ge, ii) Make i easie o e-use da a. In Figu e 1, he
black ec angles a e simpli ied ep esen a ions o he objec s on he expe imen al ship Gunne us. The o ange
ec angles a e i ems ha ha e d awings, and he GA e sions a he op a e ela ed o o he d awings. The g een
ba shows he imeline. I can be so ed by ime-based o e sion-based, depending on he use 's p e e ence. The
ship model a he bo om is a simula ion o he physical ship, wi h he boxes inside ep esen ing he compa men s.
These compa men s change in eal- ime based on he selec ed d awing.
2.4 Alphanume ic changes
While he cu en JSON model includes a angemen and hull geome y da a, along wi h imes amped
simula ion alues, a comple e digi al ep esen a ion o a essel mus also inco po a e alphanume ic in o ma ion.
This includes elec ical sys em p ope ies, p opulsion pa ame e s, and o he pe o mance-c i ical speci ica ions.
T adi ionally, such da a is s uc u ed acco ding o classi ica ion schemes like SWBS (Ship Wo k B eakdown
S uc u e) [6] and SFI [7], which helps codi y how ship da a is sys ema ically o ganized. The example SWBS
designa ion below illus a es how elec ical sys em da a onboa d he essel is dis ibu ed ac oss mul iple codes.
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This snippe highligh s he di e si y and scope o sys ems and documen a ion conside ed o elec ical da a,
pa icula ly du ing he de ailed enginee ing and design phase [8].
Elec ical da a, pa icula ly in he o m o Elec ical Load Analysis (ELAs) and Single-Line Diag ams (SLDs),
p esen s a unique challenge when isualized in 3D o ma s. This ype o da a is o en ep esen ed schema ically.
Howe e , in he ea ly s ages o design, his in o ma ion can be e icien ly dis illed in o a simpli ied load analysis
ha is linked o geome y, based on s anda d scaling laws [9]. These laws help us unde s and he pa ame ic impac
o changes in geome y. Fo ins ance, an inc ease in hull leng h may necessi a e co esponding adjus men s o
p opulsion capaci y, cable leng hs, and elec ical loads. These in e dependencies can be ep esen ed h ough
pa ame ic ela ionships ha connec alphanume ic alues o geome ic a iables. Fo example, a s aigh o wa d
inc ease in o e all olume ypically esul s in a p opo ional inc ease in p opulsion powe , and consequen ly, in
elec ical load. Wi h a known speed, an inc ease in Leng h a Wa e line (LWL) will, by de ini ion, aise he F oude
Numbe (Fn) acco ding o he equa ion, whe e eloci y is he ship speed [10].
Figu e 4. Equa ion o Fn
This inc ease in Fn will hen lead o a co esponding ise in powe , which can be app oxima ed due o he e en s
o he Fn in he ship’s esis ance [11]. Fo he pu poses o simpli ica ion and o demons a e change p opaga ion,
we use he Admi al y o mula, which ela es displacemen , speed, and powe , and can be used in ea ly es ima ions
[14]. A cons an Admi al y coe icien is assumed no ing ha he new ship hull is simila o he o iginal bu will
only ha e di e en displacemen , sha powe and/o speed. Such simpli ied scaling laws a e common no only in
p opulsion and elec ical sys ems bu also ac oss a ious o he c i ical alphanume ic da a needed o assess basic
ship pe o mance. These powe es ima es could be u he e ined wi h de ailed esis ance da a and addi ional
pe o mance pa ame e s.
Figu e 5. Equa ion o EHP
Figu e 6. Equa ion o Admi al y Coe icien
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Figu e 7. Hie a chy o pe o mance pa ame e s and load da a.
In he con ex o change managemen , he sys em ecalcula es hese alphanume ic alues dynamically a e each
design upda e. By de ining ans o ma ion unc ions based on pa ame ic equa ions, we ensu e ha any change in
he design au oma ically p opaga es h oughou he da a model. This modula app oach minimizes he isk o
human e o du ing manual upda es, ensu ing consis ency.
3. Applica ions
3.1 A simple design change simula ion case
To illus a e he p oposed simple design change simula ion, we p esen a simple example consis ing o wo
blocks (compa men s). Figu e 8 shows an example o he simula ion.
Figu e 8. The simple design change case wi h 2 blocks
The simula ion consis s o wo blocks, Ca goHold and Con olRoom. In o ma ion abou he wo compa men s
is con ained in wo GA e sions. The g aph consis ing o lines shows how each da a s uc u e is connec ed. Each
GA e sion and compa men is connec ed o he p e ious da a. The ho izon al axis is aligned acco ding o he
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imeline on which each e ision was w i en. This may o may no be connec ed o he p e ious GA e sion. The
designe can selec a GA e ision e sion o iew he design o each compa men o ha e sion o d ag he
imeline o obse e design changes a he desi ed imeline. Based on he GA e sion, he alphanume ic changes
o he co esponding ship we e also calcula ed, which is explained in he nex sec ion.
3.2 A design changes simula ion case wi h Gunne us
3.2.1 Da a mode o Gunne usl
In he Gunne us case s udy, a single o icial e ision o GA was eco ded. Howe e , he e we e changes in a
leas ou blocks wi hin GA. In ou simula ion, we seg ega ed he da a o each block, enabling us o selec and
e iew only he e ision o he desi ed block. An example is shown in ollowing Figu e 9.
Figu e 9. The design changes based on he e ision o blocks wi h Gunne us
Howe e , in e nal imes amps e eal ha h ee dis inc design modi ica ions occu ed. The design p og ess,
based on imes amp da a, is isualized in Figu e 10.
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Figu e 10. The design changes based on he imeline wi h Gunne us
To e ec i ely ack design e isions, i is essen ial o main ain a s uc u e linking each design o i s pa en
e sion o o associa e i wi h a da a s uc u e ha e lec s i s dependencies. In his case, we le e aged me ada a
ex ac ed om he GAs o es ablish hese connec ions. Based on his, we e iewed he design p oposal by applying
no only isual design changes bu also he simple alphanume ic changes in oduced in Sec ion 2.4.
3.2.2 Alphanume ic changes
Based on he hie a chy p esen ed in Sec ion 2.4, he simpli ied s uc u e o key p opulsion and elec ical
a iables, and o he alphanume ic pa ame e s, based on Gunne us' speci ica ion shee is shown in Figu e 11. While
he pa ame e s used a e speci ic o he case essel, he amewo k can be gene alized o o he essel ypes by
ex ending he unde lying schema and ans o ma ion logic. Fo simplici y, p opulsion da a is p esen ed in blue.
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Figu e 11. Alphanume ic da a on p opulsion based on Gunne us Speci ica ions.
Figu e 12. Changes o he p opulsion pa ame e s based on geome y.
To display his change igge ed in a mul i-domain ecalcula ion ( om geome y o p opulsion), we ook an
example o he leng hening case applied o Gunne us du ing i s de elopmen , whe e he Leng h O e all (LOA)
inc eased om 31.25m o 36.25m, ep esen ing a 1.16 ac o change in he Leng h a Wa e Line (LWL). This
modi ica ion in geome y necessi a ed co esponding changes in alphanume ic p ope ies. Using ou uni ied model
and ans o ma ion unc ions, he 1.16 leng h inc ease au oma ically ansla es o app op ia e powe equi emen
adjus men s, calcula ed h ough F oude scaling p inciples and admi al y coe icien . This in eg a ion elimina es
he need o manual calcula ions ac oss mul iple documen s, educing edundancies and ensu ing ha all design
changes p opaga e om a single sou ce o u h wi h p ope e sion con ol. Figu e 13 p esen s he a ious iles
used o co obo a e he p opulsion da a.
This capabili y o e s clea wo k low ad an ages o e con en ional p ac ices when ackling change [12]. In
cu en indus y wo k lows, alphanume ic speci ica ions a e o en sca e ed ac oss mul iple iles, sp eadshee s,
PDFs, and da abase expo s. These a e main ained manually o acked using gene al-pu pose e sion con ol
sys ems like Sub e sion o Gi [13]. While hese ools enable change acking a he ile le el, hey lack seman ic
awa eness o he da a s uc u es and in e dependencies speci ic o ship design. As a esul , enginee s mus ely on
aci knowledge and cus om sc ip s o unde s and he implica ions o changes. By in eg a ing alphanume ic e sion
con ol di ec ly in o he same model ha go e ns 3D geome y and simula ion, we enable ine-g ained, con ex -
