In search of the best design - A systems analysis methodology for submarine design

Paper i proceeding, 2014

This paper introduces a new coherent methodology for Systems Analysis (SA) as a tool for the search of the best submarine design for different mission types and under diverse conditions. In naval submarine design there are usually two critical objective attributes, i.e. systems effectiveness and cost, the first to be maximised and the second to be minimised. The new coherent methodology contains four major parts; a module for technical design in the functional domain based on a synthesised design approach, a module for prediction of related cost and an Operations Analysis (OA) module for systems effectiveness calculation. Finally, the first three parts, a combination of deterministic and stochastic models, are connected to a systems analysis module where the results are merged, analysed and evaluated by the design team and then presented to the decision maker and stakeholders for their decision in search of the best design. This approach invites customer participation within the framework of integrated project teams. With fewer iteration cycles and better predictions of systems cost, performance and effectiveness, this has generated deeper customer understanding and thereby satisfaction and acceptance. The coherent methodology uses a general Simulation Based Design (SBD) approach within the framework of Model Based System Engineering (MBSE) for physically large Naval Integrated Complex Systems (NICS), here applied to the submarines domain.