Ship structural safety optimization: an integrated artificial intelligence and multi-criteria decision-making method

Majority of the world cargoes is transported through the sea, and failure of the ship structure is a major concern and thus needs to be avoided due to its catastrophic nature in terms of system loss. In view of this, ship structural safety is assessed regularly so as to prevent their failures and implement cost-effective improvement measures that ensure optimal operations, especially in the realm of uncertainty. In this research, a methodology for safety assessment and optimization of ship structures using discrete fuzzy set theory as an artificial intelligence method and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution as a multi-criteria decision-making method is developed. The two algorithms are integrated in a logical manner to achieve ship structural safety optimization under uncertainty.