Index

S.No.

Papers

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Naval perspective plan and IN road map.

Evolution of Indian Naval ship design capability and way ahead.
Considerations for the design and sustainment of modern warships.
Challenges in Design & Construction of warships for the 21st Century.
Green technologies & practices-Application opportunities for Naval vessels.
Future trends in design and construction of warships.
Design and construction of warships for the 21st century.
Stages of Co-operation and Industrial base of shipbuilding in 21st century.
Benchmarking of shipbuilding yards and ship building processes.
Risk analysis in warship construction.
Warship building a growth engine for national economy.
Benchmarking of shipbuilding yards and shipbuilding processes.
Design of future ships with laser weapons.
Importance to incorporate user inputs on galley and store houses while
designing a naval platform.
Equipment development for warship stealth.
Integrated Topside Design optimising the electromagnetic design of ships.
Design prototypes and test platforms for submarine technology induction:
Review and way ahead.
Developments in modular construction for shipbuilding.
A parametric evaluation of s-CO2 and organic working fluid (R123) based
rankine cycles for waste heat recovery system.
Electric propulsion- A strategic choice for the Indian navy.
Analysis of technologies having influence on productivity of Indian shipyards.
Lessons for future warship design, construction and fitment strategise to
handle 'COTS'.
Will we get what we want challenges in the emerging reality of competitive
ship building.
Acquisition of ships through Indian yards A perspective.
Technologies for management of acoustic signature of ships & submarines.
Propulsion system design and selection philosophy in Naval ship building.
Enabling defence exports in warship design and construction.
Warship building industry- The challenges in subcontracting.
Study on dual fuel operation of diesel engines using alternate fuel for energy
efficient Navy.
Challenges in Naval platform design and construction.
EMI and EMC considerations for onboard power generation systems.
Benchmarking of Indian warship building yards - Aspects and prospects.
On-Board internal audio communication system challenges in future ship
building.

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22
23
24
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26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33

Future Trends & Opportunities in Warship Design & Construction

34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41

PLM/PDM implementation in warship building yards in India.

Outrigger position optimization for least resistance using ship flow.
DND - IIT Delhi partnership - Potential & Possibilities.
Virtual instrumentation technology for warship automation (an example of
weapon launch).
Optimized fracture mechanics based design of Naval structures.
Hybrid power & propulsion solutions to meet multi-mission needs.
A Comparative study of underwater blast resistance of air-backed and waterbacked warship structural panels.
Epox alloy as advanced non metallic construction material for ship building.

Future Trends & Opportunities in Warship Design & Construction

Develo
opments in Modular Consttruction for
f Shipb
building

Comm
mander ((Dr) Nitin
n Agarwa
ala. Comm
missioned in the
Indian Navy in 1993, the officcer is a Naval Architect
from Cochin U
Universityy of Scien
nce and T
Technolo
ogy with
nd teaching expeerience. The officcer has
both field an
served
d onboard a naval ship, th
he Fabrication
Deparrtment of Navval Docckyards Mumba
ai and
Vishakkhapatna
am, Headquarters of Westeern Nava
al Comma
and and tthe Hull
Inspecctions and
d Trials U
Unit at Visshakhapa
atnam.
The officer
o
iss presen
ntly Officcerinch
harge Sttructures Group at the
Directo
orate of N
Naval Deesign, Shiip Surfacee Group. He has a
authored over 19
paperss for various
v
c
conferen
ces and
d journa
als both national and
interna
ational.

_________
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Future Trends
s & Opportu
unities in Warship
W
Des
sign & Cons
struction

Enabling Defence Exports in warship Design and Construction

Abstract
World War II saw the emergence of modular construction as a new shipbuilding
philosophy for the construction of Liberty ships. This philosophy was refined by
Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., Japan and subsequently by many
users over the years. Today fall in demand for naval vessels has forced use of
modularization in shipbuilding since modularization is considered as the best available
tool for reducing cost and increasing competitiveness without investing in new
facilities, machines and tools. The present paper discusses evolution of modularity in
shipbuilding and ongoing developments in this area.
Keywords: Modularity; Modularization; Lean construction.
1.

Introduction

1.1
World class shipyards have been exploiting build strategies that have enabled them to
dramatically lower costs, improve construction quality and extend ship design features and
capabilities. These strategies have mainly focused on improvement of manufacturing &
assembly methods, procurement & material control, business processes and / or ship
designs & engineering processes. Of these areas, the primary focus area for any ship builder
has been improving the manufacturing & assembly procedure. It has been realized world
over that reduction in time for the construction process results into a quantum reduction of
delivery time for a ship.
1.2
In earlier days shipbuilding followed the straight stick process. Workers would turn up
on site and start by leveling the ground. They would then put a piece of steel in the ground
(stick) and bolt it down. It would be like a meccano set. Engineering has changed all this with
time. Today shipbuilding follows the following three levels for manufacturing & assembly
processes:
(a)
Prefabrication: Generally takes place at a specialized facility, in which various
materials are joined to form a component as part of the final installation.
(b)
Preassembly: A process wherein various materials, prefabricated components,
and / or equipment are joined together for subsequent installation.
(c)
Module: A combination of preassemblies joined together that can be
transported froma facility.
1.3
Interpretation of modularization differs from field of work, but the general idea is to
divide large systems into smaller, self-sufficient parts. The way these parts are combined
makes a final unique design.
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Future Trends & Opportunities in Warship Design & Construction

Enabling Defence Exports in warship Design and Construction

Modularization allows complex structures to be made manageable, allows parallel working

and can accommodate future uncertainty. By breaking
the complexity down to self-sustainable building blocks, where each module has defined
system borders and demands, the engineer is able to manage large and complex systems in
a structured way. Each module is developed as an individual block, and it is the combination
of these blocks that makes the end product. Modularization techniques can be applied to
platform construction and systems design. Larger modules can be built with more fit-out and
testing undertaken on land earlier in the build process.
1.4
Compared to conventional construction, modular construction requires greater
interaction among construction activities, requiring planning of many of these activities to
occur early in the project as seen in Figure 1. Modular construction redefines relationships
among activities that are usually independent in conventional construction. Unlike standard
construction, where most of the design, engineering and construction activities are performed
in sequential order, activities for modular construction involve additional interdependency
since activities can be performed in parallel in various fabrication shops and / or at various
construction sites. The present paper discusses evolution of modularity in shipbuilding and
ongoing developments in this area.

Fig 1: Comparison of Conventional and Modular work flow

2.

Historical Background

2.1
Henry Kaisers introduction of Group Technology for the Liberty ships (to achieve
benefits normally associated with production lines) lead to development of modular assembly
for shipbuilding business during WWII bringing about an industrial revolution within the
industry. This concept of modular construction came about due to a need of optimizing
shipbuilding production process reducing costs and increasing competitiveness without
investing in new facilities, machines and tools. Using the logic of Group Technology, Dr
Hisashi Shinto of Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. (IHI) developed and refined
the Product Work Breakdown Structure (PWBS). This helped IHI to build over 2,000 ships
during 1960 to 1970. In 1976 significance of the IHI system for shipbuilding was realized by
the world. Using this technology from contract to delivery, Avondale Shipyard delivered the
complex product carrier Exxon Charleston in Oct 1983.
2.2
Since then this concept has been employed by various shipbuilding houses in different
forms. Some of these are:
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Future Trends & Opportunities in Warship Design & Construction

Enabling Defence Exports in warship Design and Construction

Concept uses standard interface connections for various mission containers and equipments
like winches and cranes.
(h)
SWATH (A&R): A consortium of Abeking & Rasmussen and Lrssen Werft developed
a SWATH platform which supports shock-elastically supported modules. The complete
superstructure with accommodation and bridge is one module; another module was for
launching / retrieving drones. The platform contains only the absolutely necessary equipment
such as maneuvering devices, electrically driven propulsion, fuel and ballast tanks. The
platform is structurally self-supporting and carries modules which do not contribute to global
strength and are in themselves structurally self-supporting. Bridge and engine room are
added as base module located up front. The central module hosts the operational central and
accommodation units, kitchen and further equipment for the operation such as electric
transformers. The aft module may be exchanged for individual missions, containing
weapons, launching-retrieval systems for AUVs or boats.
(j)
Standard Flex (Flyfisken Class): The Standard Flex 300 or the Flyvefisken Class,
is a multi-role vessel based on a standard hull with containerized systems and equipment,
which allows the vessel to change role quickly for surveillance, surface combat, antisubmarine warfare, countermeasures / mine hunting, or pollution control tasks. This fiberreinforced plastic vessel is designed by the Danish Navy and Naval team Denmark. Between
1987 and 1996 a total of 14 of these vessels were built by Danyard A/S.
(k)
French-Italian FREMM (frigate euro penne multi-mission): Following the success
of the Danish Standard Flex approach, the French-Italian frigate design based on a modular
ship design approach to provide the desired flexibility and cost effectiveness was developed.
The concept foresees a standard platform, fitted with equipment shared by all operational
functions. This plug & play concept makes it easier to stay abreast of new systems
developments.
(l)
M1000 (Accommodation) System: In the 1960s, Blohm+Voss developed a design
for production ship called Pioneer which included a prefabricated accommodation system
M1000. The M1000 consisted of a steel framework for cabin structures with well thought out
connection details and fire proof panels for quick assembly. While the Pioneer concept as
such flopped, the M1000 accommodation system, taken separately, proved to be a success.
(m)
Thyssen Nordseewerke (TNSW) modular engine room: TNSW concentrated on
introduction of standardization and modularization in engine room design. In 1991 piping and
pump groups were replaced by completely assembled and pre-outfitted functional modules
(low-temperature cooling water module; high temperature water module; sea-water cooling
module; separator module; lubricating and fuel oil module; starting air and control air module)
for a 1500 TEU containerships.
____________________________________________________________________
After the first series of containerships, the module series was extended with some additional
modules. In total, thirteen containerships were built between 1991 and 1996 with this
modular engine room.



Future Trends & Opportunities in Warship Design & Construction

Enabling Defence Exports in warship Design and Construction

(n)
Modular deckhouse: In1998, a consortium of shipbuilding suppliers in Rostock /
Germany started with a prototype of a modular deckhouse.The deckhouse consists of
accommodation, floor, bridge, funnel and appendage modules. Decks consist of massproduced laser-welded sandwich panels.
(p)
Engine Room Built Strategy (National Steel and Shipbuilding Company
[NASSCO]): NASSCO developed the innovative Engine Room Built Strategy, developed and
supported by a Concurrent Engineering team for the Strategic Sealift New Construction
Program engine room. During the design of modules, extra attention was paid to improve the
piping and cabling architecture.
(q)
Ulstein Modular Design Strategy: The Ulstein A101 (offshore supply vessel),
launched in late 2002 was built using the Ulstein Modular Design Strategy with a strategy
based on standardized components employed in different combinations to preserve flexibility
in design while reducing cost.
(r)
Modular ship hull design IIT: The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
patented a family of modular ship hull forms, combining a choice of one aft body, two fore
bodies and six mid-bodies to generate a total of twelve hull forms. There is no information on
implementation in industry.
(s)
Modular fast catamaran IRIS: The French shipyard Iris Catamarans in La Rochelle
developed a modular fast catamaran ferry family. The concept consists of closed modules for
passenger space (one or two decks), a control module which groups all functions of
propulsion, steering, safety and transmission together, and two side hulls containing engines,
auxiliary engines, waterjets and electric systems and connected by three strong girders.
(t)
Futura Carrier: The Futura Carrier system is a modular system proposed for inland
waterways transport vessels. The ship is equipped with 4 propulsion units, two astern and
two forward. Aft and forward propulsion modules can be combined with standard
accommodation units and cargo modules (tanker, container, general cargo). A prototype of
this ship was built in 2005 by the German shipyard CON-MAR.
3.

Using Modular-Build

Why to use
3.1
Modular-build strategy might be required for political reasons, such as to provide work
to more than one geographic region or maintain a shipbuilding industrial base, or it might be
needed to access skills available only at different shipyards or to overcome capacity
constraints.

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Future Trends & Opportunities in Warship Design & Construction

Enabling Defence Exports in warship Design and Construction

In some circumstances, reduced cost might be hoped for. Primarily there are three
circumstances under which a multiple-shipyard, modular-build strategy might be adopted:
(a)
A customer might specify the requirement;
(b)
A prime-contracting shipyard might plan to outsource elements of construction
(c)
An event in a build shipyard might lead to unplanned outsourcing of some of
the work.
3.2
Use of modules carries the concept of early stage construction cost savings even
further. Benefits of modular build are seen in every stage of the life of a ship. These include:
New Construction Benefits:
(a)
Shorter construction time hence reduced overhead cost and lesser impact of
inflation.
(b)
Reduced cost from learning effects. Additional efficiency is gained if modules
are standardized.
(c)
Reduced cost due to lesser overheads if built by a smaller shipyard / industry.
(d)
More opportunities for smaller businesses leading to a larger supplier base thus
improving quality and further reduced costs.
(e)
More productspossible in available funds.
Ship Maintenance Benefits
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)

Easy removal from onboard and repaired in shop.

Less costly to upgrade, repair or replace.
Faster turn-around time to repair / replace modules
Even faster turn-around with Swap-out / Swap-in scenario of selected modules
Increase fleet operation time due to reduced time in yard

Ship Operations Benefits

(a)
(b)
(c)

Provide more flexibility for a standard ship platform

Allow more focus of purpose for specific operating requirements
Minimize need for incorporating unnecessary systems.

How to use
3.3
Deciding the appropriate level of design process is a major challenge that must be
addressed at the beginning of each design phase. Early stage ship design process does not
deal with the ship in terms of modules or zones and the process itself is not structured for reuseable design modules.When we design a design process, we need to create standardized
building blocks that are defined primarily at their interfaces, rather than by their internal
procedures
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Future Trends & Opportunities in Warship Design & Construction

Enabling Defence Exports in warship Design and Construction

By standardizing the process interfaces, we can evolve the internal structure as necessary to
meet changing requirements. When the external properties are controlled, we can change
internal methods without unraveling the entire design process.
3.4
Before defining a module one needs to keep the modular technical architecture in
mind which includes the analysis / acquisition plans, technology market surveillance,
functional partitioning / ship arrangements, zone allocation, ship adjacency issues (blast,
radiation areas, functional connectivity, material handling, etc.), systems engineering
tradeoffs (adaptability vs. cost vs. performance vs. risk), zone development (arrangements,
ship services, access), module / module station development, ship weight management
(ballast, structural design) to name a few.
3.5
Definition of modules has the greatest influence on shipbuilding productivity. Modules
can be developed in a variety of ways. These include outfit and equipment modules, hull
assembly blocks, outfitted hull blocks, and outfitted panel assemblies. Unit outfit may be as
small as a single piece of equipment mounted on its foundation and ready to install on panel,
on block or on board. Or can be a complex assembly of equipment, piping, electrical and
other systems all pre-mounted on a support structure. These module blocks should be
designed with similar volume, weight and shape characteristics in orderto distribute work
evenly during fabrication and assembly levels which precede block assembly. It is ensured
that welding is shifted from difficult to down-hand. Block design should also be of the largest
size governed by the available facilities such as crane capacity, dock
space/availability,buildings, etc.
3.6
For modular construction to happen,a basic design is transformed into a zone-oriented
design utilizing a product-oriented process. Detailed design needs to be completed before
construction begins. Integrated hull construction, outfitting, painting and pipe piece work
process lanes are established for production of interim products leading to the erection of a
ship in a building dock. Zone-oriented scheduling controls the flow of work on the various
work process lanes, ensuring no competition for work area access. Majority of work isdone
down-hand. Work packages are ideally sized for two workers to complete in a week. Finally,
zone orientation provides accurate progress reporting and cost collection which is directly
related to work completed. Thus, managers can forecast work remaining and resources
required. All these contribute to a shipbuilding method that is faster, less labor intensive and
less expensive.
3.7
There are precautions that must be taken in order to minimize failures in applying
modular construction techniques as modular construction requires better than normal
engineering, better than normal quality assurance and higher level of design standards to
minimize interferences and disconnects.

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Future Trends & Opportunities in Warship Design & Construction

Enabling Defence Exports in warship Design and Construction

4.

Where is the world moving to?

4.1
Modular adaptable ship technologies enable ships to affordably remain operationally
relevant over their service life. Various types of modularity exist. These include Construction
modularity (Production Modularity) and Capability Swapping modularity (Mission Modularity,
Component Sharing, Software Modularity and Maintenance Modularity). At the working level
these may be further subdivided into Component Level (Physical, Digital Interfaces), System
Level (Equipment and Module Stations) or Total Ship Architecture Level (F/E Zones).
We shall look at these two broad areas wherein modularity is being exercised in
shipbuilding.

Construction Modularity:
4.2
Naval architecture specifies selection or design of hull form first. Then, all necessary
systems are forced to fit within the physical hull confines. This is called the outside-in
design. This design procedure leads to unreliable weight and area/volume estimates. It
believes that volume is arrange able leading to adverse effects such as
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(j)
(k)
(l)

An unstable design wherein arrangements cannot be frozen early.

Increased Detail Design and Construction costs
Costly exotic, lightweight materials, difficult to weld
Increased energy consumption and Fleet fuel costs
Insufficient service-life allowances
Increased maintenance and repair costs
Increased modernization costs
Reductions in years of expected service-life
Many Band-Aids to keep ships operating
Operational restrictions

4.3
In order to overcome these adverse effects, the decomposition-based approach
proposes the exactly opposite design approach. In this approach called the inside-out
design, the systems are designed first, and then the hull is designed to enclose the
cumulative system volume and area as mapped through functional allocation. This approach
allows a functional ship design. It identifies functions requiring fulfillment, presents physical
design parameters to meet these needs, and maps the interrelationship between the two.
Decomposing into subsystems creates a logical structure with bounded subsystems that can
be more easily analyzed, designed, built, and maintained. Basic logical steps in this direction
include:
(a)
Add the template hull form to the internal functional space model.
(b)
Resize the hull form in the most flexible zone location to fit the internal
functional spaces.
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Future Trends & Opportunities in Warship Design & Construction

Enabling Defence Exports in warship Design and Construction

(c)
Using the design rules to connect the internal arrangements to the initial hull
form.
(d)
Develop the initial naval architectural characteristics using the design rules and
refine the spatial arrangement and hull form used to produce base vessel.
Capability Swapping:
4.4
To achieve software / hardware replacement by different / new products / technologies
of like function and capacity without requiring changes to the overall system, modularity is
used. This has taken importance due to
(a)
Need of more flexible ships that can be configured to multi-missions
(b)
Faster rate of technology change wherein software has been found to change
every 18 months
(c)
Ability of computer industry to provide interfaces for plug and play
(d)
Increased number of open standards now available i.e ISO, IEEE etc.
4.5
In order to achieve capability swapping, standardization takes place at the interface
[physical and functional interfaces (HW), software interfaces (SW) and RF interfaces (links)]
and not inside the modules. This allows technology insertion and mission reconfiguration.
5.

What can the Navy do?

5.1
The navy should consider assembling, pre-outfitting, integrated testing of combat
weapon systems off-hull, so that final installation, checkout delivery of the integrated warship
takes weeks instead of months or years. This philosophy could be applied to
(a)
(b)
(c)

Combat system computing plant, command and display hardware;

Sensors; and
Weapon delivery systems.

5.2
There is precedent for this approach in the LCS program. Taken to extremes, the navy
could take delivery of the ship and execute final installation and checkout at a naval facility,
saving time and money at the delivery shipyard.
5.3
The R&D community can assist this paradigm change by providing the research on
structural integrity, damage control aspects, and optimal distributed systems engineering for
ships that are predominantly modular. The community also can help to engineer the off-hull
test facilities and simulation and stimulation programs that will be required if this concept is
followed to its full potential. In addition, new ways of thinking about modular interfaces must
be explored rigorously and characterized in order to facilitate widespread adaptation of this
technique.
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Future Trends & Opportunities in Warship Design & Construction

Enabling Defence Exports in warship Design and Construction

6.

Conclusion

6.1
The fall in demand for naval vessels coupled with the ever increasing advances in
technology, such as the use of 2D / 3D computer aided design and modularization are
revolutionizing the way ships are built. The concept of shipbuilding has shifted away from the
traditional method where ships were constructed on a slipway and built up as they went
forward to modular construction which has proved to be the most cost effective way to deliver
modern warships. It is all about integration. Modular ship production starts with hundreds of
smaller subassemblies such as piping sections, ventilation ducting, other shipboard hardware
and major machinery items being joined together. These sections are then assembled with
other shipboard sensors and weapons to form ship modules.
6.2
The final module often weights hundreds of tons (between 60% to 90% complete), are
moved to the final consolidation site where they are aligned and then welded together to form
the completed ship hull. A floating dock, slipway or ship-lift is used to launch the completed
hull. Following launch, final ship outfitting is completed at the wharf, systems are set to work,
and pre-delivery certification and onboard crew training finalized. Integration of modules
means that only one major site is needed to assemble the various parts of the ship that have
been constructed elsewhere. This trend toward building a ship using modules has
dramatically changed the dynamics of shipbuilding.

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Enabling Defence Exports in warship Design and Construction

References:
[1] Modularization of Ships, Report within the Framework of Project Intermodul s/03/G
IntermareC, Volker Bertram, France, 2005
[2] Shared Modular Build of Warships, RAND Corporation technical report series, 2011
[3] Chapter 2 - Current trends in Naval shipbuilding Parliament of Australia
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Fo...
[4] Australias $250 billion Nation Building Opportunity, Naval Shipbuilding, Dec 2009
[5] A review and analysis of modular construction practices, Mayra L. De La Torre, MSc
Thesis Lehigh University 1994


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