Key challenges and opportunities in hull form design optimisation for marine and offshore applications

New environmental regulations and volatile fuel prices have resulted in an ever-increasing need for reduction in carbon emission and fuel consumption. Designs of marine and offshore vessels are more demanding with complex operating requirements and oil and gas exploration venturing into deeper waters and hasher environments. Combinations of these factors have led to the need to optimise the design of the hull for the marine and offshore industry. The contribution of this paper is threefold. Firstly, the paper provides a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art techniques in hull form design. Specifically, it analyses geometry modelling, shape transformation, optimisation and performance evaluation. Strengths and weaknesses of existing solutions are also discussed. Secondly, key challenges of hull form optimisation specific to the design of marine and offshore vessels are identified and analysed. Thirdly, future trends in performing hull form design optimisation are investigated and possible solutions proposed. A case study on the design optimisation of bulbous bow for passenger ferry vessel to reduce wave-making resistance is presented using NAPA software. Lastly, main issues and challenges are discussed to stimulate further ideas on future developments in this area, including the use of parallel computing and machine intelligence.