An innovative method for parametric design of planing tunnel vessel Hull form

In this work, a new mathematical procedure has been developed to automatically generate the hull form of planing tunnel vessels. Due to the complex and time consuming nature of the hull form generation, it is vital to use a nimble and precise method in designing and optimization of hull form of these vessels. In the present method, the minimum number of input control parameters has been employed to design the hull form geometry. In the first step of modeling procedure, four longitudinal guideline functions are defined that use two different approaches, namely, polynomial functions and Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) curves. In the second step, using specified key points, the section curves are generated via three different models including; the parabolic, the elliptic and the NURBS curves. Then, the fair transverse sections, the fair surfaces and the solid models could be generated. In a case study, the generation of a number of hull forms based on three different models, implies that the method is capable of designing tunnel vessels precisely and quickly. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.