Multidisciplinary Design Optimization: A New Way to Bring Softer Bows

It is well known that sharp bulbous bow has a good performance on ship resistance reduction, but it is also threatens the struck ships and the environment greatly. For their own economy profit, ship owners would like the bulbous bow to be designed sharp and rigid. However, from the viewpoint of environmental protection, the bulbous bow should be designed blunt and soft. Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) is a prosperous design concept and technique, to reconcile this problem effectively. The basic concept and theories of MDO are introduced in this paper. An optimization analysis is accomplished on the bulbous bow design for a container ship, using Collaborative Optimization Method. The characters of the bulbous bow on resistance reduction, collision force density and structural strength requirement are all considered at the same time. A compatible bulbous bow can be obtained by this way.