Back-Tracing Technical Progress with Evolutionary Algorithms

This paper investigates the engineering development as an evolutionary process. Therefore it first reveals the benefits of evolutionary algorithms in engineering and considers the evolutionary design. Next it brings a simple analytical model of a common ship hull subjected to service conditions. Finally the optimization in the ship structural design is considered as an evolutionary process tackled by NSGA-II algorithm that is applied in back-tracing of the ship scantling development. The conclusion is that the history of technical development can support comprehension of the role of environment, knowledge, material properties and workmanship in engineering regarding safety, efficiency and manufacturing.