Space Management

In the early stages of the design of a ship many requirements relating to the spatial layout have to be considered and met. Compartments need to be arranged to meet functional and operational requirements and the boundaries between them specified. Spaces need to be reserved for different support systems, for example, spaces running through multiple compartments for interconnecting pipes, cables and ventilation. Spaces need to be allocated for major machinery, equipment and space reserved for access. All of these will have particular design regulations such as fire resistance and allowed content.

In later design stages planning, monitoring and follow up are done on weights, centers of gravity, number of parts, areas, drawing lists, attributes, all related to the spatial arrangement of the ship.

The traditional ship design process is often developed using a spreadsheet-based system to keep records of weights, centers of gravity, attributes, and a general purpose CAD tool to create a two-dimensional layout drawing of each deck. It is only when the design definition has reached a considerable level of maturity that it is developed further in a three-dimensional system. Space Management supports the 3D modelling already from the two-dimensional layout work by basing all types of arrangements on the Common Reference Model, containing planar and sculptured surfaces. This is also the foundation used by all design disciplines and is developed for all phases of the design project.

A space arrangement is generated by defining an envelope (for example, the shell surface and the upper deck forming a closed volume) and then dividing this envelope using boundaries from the Common Reference Model. The automatically generated spaces that builds up the arrangement can then be further processed, for example, spaces can be merged and spaces from other arrangements or any closed volumes can be added or subtracted from the arrangement. All modelling work is done on the Common Reference Model, never on individual spaces within an arrangement. Two different arrangements, made for different purposes, will therefore share many of the modelled boundaries and are topologically dependent on the same boundaries. This will reduce the time needed when making changes or when checking different alternative designs.

The boundary of a space can be a physical boundary such as a deck or bulkhead, or a logical boundary such as between two areas with different painting. Early geometry does not need to be precise; for example the hull surface can be quite rough. The spaces are connected topologically and there by handles updates and design changes through automatic recreation as more precise information becomes available. All spaces can report on their geometries and topology. A space within a certain arrangement can immediately be found by a given point in space.

A hierarchy of spaces can be generated as there will be spaces within spaces. Hierarchies are created by selecting a space in any arrangement as an envelope and subdivide this space further with selected boundaries. The subdivided space is not changed and ‘owns’ the spaces resulting from its subdivision.

As the design evolves, spaces can be interrogated regarding all objects within each space. Their properties can be accessed, for example, to obtain their total heat output, weights and many more. The hull model is cut by the space boundaries and exact calculation on weights, center of gravities, areas, can be performed and compared with estimates stored within the space arrangement. Different build strategy options can be progressed to develop the optimum work breakdown structure for fabrication and installation and work content and surface treatment areas are calculated. Insulation can be specified and assigned to space boundaries and represented symbolically in drawings. Estimates for insulation material in any given space can be calculated.