Deltamarin takes a leap in ship concept design with hydrodynamic optimization

Deltamarin has made significant strides in its ship concept design capabilities by incorporating advanced hydrodynamic optimization techniques, in collaboration with Norwegian engineering firm Nocean. This partnership aims to broaden the range of hull shapes and vessel concepts explored during the early stages of ship design. Deltamarin has been diligently working on refining its ship concept design methods and digital "toolbox" to achieve energy-efficient and sustainable vessel designs.

Hydrodynamic optimization is a key area of development for Deltamarin, and the company is bolstering its capabilities with Nocean's optimization tool and expertise.

Numerical optimization complements Deltamarin's human expertise by uncovering non-intuitive improvements and handling complex multi-condition objectives, such as varying draughts and speeds. This technology can evaluate hundreds of qualified simulations with different parameter combinations, significantly expanding the design space that can be explored during the concept design process.

The successful collaboration began with a large PCTC vessel project, where the optimization started from a state-of-the-art, highly efficient hull. Deltamarin previously conducted hull optimization based on expert knowledge, which took several weeks. Nocean's tool, however, identified similar improvements in just four to five days, resulting in an 8% average improvement in performance.

As this cooperation progresses, Deltamarin and Nocean plan to continue working on various projects, including tankers, twin-skeg LNG carriers, and cruise vessels. The integration of Deltamarin's extensive ship design and hydrodynamic expertise with Nocean's optimization technology allows designers to explore a larger design space across complex operational profiles while still allowing for fundamental design decisions.

By enabling this exploration within days instead of weeks, optimization can become an integral part of concept design, leading to substantial efficiency gains in ship fuel efficiency.