On early-stage design of vital distribution systems on board ships

This research aims to help in solving problems experienced with system integration in early-stage ship and system design by enabling automated design space exploration for on-board energy distribution systems. An Automatic Topology Generation (ATG) tool is developed and tested to do so. The ATG tool supports system designers in making trade-off analyses between system robustness and opposing design objectives for vital energy distribution systems on board of naval vessels. These systems include, amongst others, the electric power generation and distribution systems, chilled water distribution systems and propulsion systems. The ultimate goal of this line of research is to be able to better assess warship survivability in early-stage ship design in order to increase the chances of survival for ship and crew in hostile conditions. The research presented in this dissertation brings this goal closer.