Ship Hull Modeling. Current Practical Perspective

The objective of this article is to present a practical perspective of ship hull modeling today, where computer tools have replaced the old craft design, but maintaining criteria about how the ship shape should be to make it as efficient as possible. The ship must be autonomous, safe, stable, resistant, with good behavior at sea, and offering the least possible resistance at a given speed. All these requirements will affect the design of its forms. The consolidation in CAD programs of NURBS curves and surfaces has been a reality for years, and specifically the naval field is one where the transition from the old physical splines used in craft design is more evident. In addition to the use of NURBS, another representation of the ship's hull surface is the polygon mesh. There are pros and cons between these two techniques. Most CAD programs use both, so the designer can decide which to use in each circumstance.