November 2006 Technical Session

Advanced Simulation in the work of a Classification Society

The November 22 meeting of the Greek Section was held at the auditorium of Kristen Navigation who are kindly hosting the meetings of the Greek Section again this season. The meeting was attended by about thirty-five members and guests, during which Mr Karsten Fach, Head of the Competence Center for Engineering Services, Germanischer Lloyd, spoke on the general developments towards simulation based design, which have been supported and in some cases even driven by modern classification society work. The advanced finite-element analysis and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) have been the classical applications of large-scale computer simulations and a long part of the services provided by classification societies. However, more recently the scope and depth of simulations have developed rapidly and a survey of the techniques used as well as typical applications have been presented. The presentation focused on basics of the techniques, pointing out progress achieved and current research activities, giving many references that described in more detail the individual applications and simulation techniques.
Many simulation applications were presented, including: A) CFD for seakeeping, tank liquid sloshing, rudder flows, HVAC and fire & smoke simulations; B) Evacuation simulations; C) Finite element analyses for structural design, vibration analyses and acoustics. Mr. Fach concluded that the simulations for numerous applications now often aid decisions, sometimes ‘just’ for qualitative ranking of solutions and sometimes for quantitative ‘optimization’ of advanced engineering solutions. Continued validation feedback is necessary, which serves to improve the simulation tools as well as build confidence. Furthermore he stated that the advanced simulation software alone is not enough. The true value offered by the advanced engineering service providers lies not in the software licenses or hardware, but in the symbiosis of highly skilled staff and these resources.

from left to right:

P Lalangas, International Regional VP
G Anagnostou, Papers Committee Chair
K Fach, Author
H Psaraftis, Chair Greek Section
N Dionyssopoulos, Membership Committee Chair.