NEWS ANALYSIS
Call for transparency on CSR software
W
ith the recent amendments to the common structural rules for bulk carriers and tankers, classification societies have been
introducing new soſtware to assist in the design process, writes Sandra Speares. According to David Tongue, secretary general of
INTERCARGO “The first concern is that there is a strong need for transparency in the soſtware that class uses for determining CSR (or Goal Based Standards (GBS)) compliance- there is a requirement for more than just inputs and outputs through a ‘black box’ as has been commonly the case. Detailed assumptions need to be declared for confidence. Te ‘trust me I’m a doctor’ approach is no longer acceptable. “Secondly there is a need to ensure that the soſtware
used is ‘futureproof ’. We are now experiencing instances where programmes used by class to determine compliance cannot be run on the later soſtware platforms, with the original platforms now obsolete and redundant. We need to provide that when the CSR (GBS) compliance soſtware needs to be run for verification purposes in the later life of a CSR vessel, this will be a regulatory requirement and the soſtware must remain usable and available.” Challenges for ship designers and yards resulting from
the new rules include the increase in overall vessel design time, according to ClassNK. To alleviate the burden of these new rules on ship designers and cut down the required man hours, ClassNK initially released PrimeShip- HULL(HCSR), a multi-functional vessel design support tool aiming to make it easier for designers to carry out rule calculations and optimise their designs. The latest version, PrimeShip-HULL(HCSR)
Ver. 3.0.0 is now being marketed. “Te prescriptive calculation soſtware includes enhanced data linkage with popular commercial CAD systems, which further streamlines the design process. In particular, data linkage with the widely used 3D ship design system NAPA Steel has been updated to include all structural members in the fore and the aſt of bulk carriers and oil tankers. Tis makes it possible to exchange an entire ship model from NAPA Steel so that ship designers will be able to benefit from even further reduced modelling time,” the class society said. Meanwhile ABS and Lloyd’s Register have formed a
joint venture company called Common Structural Rules Soſtware which has released its own new soſtware tools for meeting the requirements of the CSR. Version 2.5 of the CSR Prescriptive Analysis and the
new CSR Finite Element (FE) Analysis soſtware allow assessment of whole vessel structures, including new bulk
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carrier and oil tanker designs. Both class societies will use these new tools to evaluate new designs to the CSR. “Tis soſtware constitutes a new industry standard,” says
ABS chairman, president and CEO Christopher Wiernicki. “In our collaboration as two of the world’s leading class societies, we continue to achieve our primary objective to enable the advancement of the maritime industry through reliable and dependable soſtware applications.” Te CSR Prescriptive Analysis soſtware requires only that
the user input the appropriate data. All of the outputs are clear, straightforward and easy to read, the new joint venture says. A summary report provides required and offered scantlings with graphic representation of any deficiencies. An intermediate report summarises dominant criteria for each structure, and a detailed report provides data for every parameter value. In conjunction with CSR Finite Element (FE) Analysis, this complete tool makes verifying compliance with CSR possible with minimal effort. According to LR Marine director Tom Boardley:
“Following the development of the CSR in 2005, LR and ABS quickly realised that only common soſtware would support the industry desire for common scantlings, and our CSR Soſtware tools had become widely used. With the introduction of the new CSR, we have developed a completely new generation of CSR soſtware that will enable shipbuilders and shipowners to easily and consistently address the requirements of the new IACS Rules.” Following his appointment as IACS chairman last
year Wiernicki stressed that common structural rules for tankers and bulk carriers were very comprehensive. Unified requirements are by definition technical ones, some of which were prescriptive and some functional in nature and he said there was enough “bandwidth” in that to address the vast pace in technology which will require a different mind-set going forward. Although there has been a good deal of discussion
over the introduction of common structural rules for containerships, he said that as a result of continued technology advancement, in order to assess the safety of a containership requires some “very sophisticated advance analysis solutions to begin to understand how large containerships behave in a seaway”. Containerships are still going through a period of
adjustment and safety concerns have been addressed through unified requirements rather than CSR, with focus on issues like longitudinal strength. Unified requirements are minimum, technical, functional, prescriptive requirements, he said, whereas CSR for tankers and bulkers are “integrated, comprehensive sets of technical requirements”. NA
The Naval Architect March 2016
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