Towards optimal ship design and valuable knowledge discovery under uncertain conditions

Ship design is a complex engineering activity which requires a multidisciplinary consideration in arriving at design objectives and constraints. An optimal design of such problems require a multi-objective optimization method that is capable of finding multiple trade-off solutions, not only to choose a preferred solution for implementation, but also to have a deeper understanding of the interactions among design variables. In this paper, we consider two ship design models involving uncertainties in design variables, and demonstrate the usefulness of an evolutionary multi-objective optimization (EMO) method and subsequent data analysis procedures in arriving at valuable design principles that enhance the knowledge of a designer. The study is pedagogical yet provide key insights of ship design issues and importantly outlines the systematic procedure for applying the technology to other more complex design problems.