A new award-winning design platform will enable shipyards, naval architects and system integrators to collaborate more effectively
The Open Simulation Platform (OSP) – a simulation tool which allows stakeholders to create vessel digital twins and model the impact of complex systems – has won Riviera Maritime Media’s OSJ Safety Award, sponsored by Vroon Offshore Services.
The platform was created over a two-year project initiated by class society DNV GL, with support from SINTEF Ocean, Rolls-Royce Marine and Norway’s National University of Science and Technology. It includes a consortium of shipyards, designers, technology developers, energy companies and vendors*.
On receiving the award on behalf of the consortium, DNV GL Maritime principal specialist for DP simulations Luca Pivano said the vision behind this project was to improve ship design, construction and modelling.
“This project is about collaboration and sharing to get a better and more sustainable industry,” said Mr Pivano.
“It will enable collaboration to help solve challenges with complex, integrated systems and software,” he added, during a technology presentation during Riviera’s Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference.
Mr Pivano said OSP would highlight safety and integration risks among different sub-systems onboard vessels.
“When systems go on board they do not work alone,” said Mr Pivano. “Everything needs to follow the same script. Instruments and software from different manufacturers need a strong integrator,” he said.
OSP is designed to ensure this happens, with class societies, shipyards, manufacturers and designers working together.
“With OSP [stakeholders] can do virtual commissioning and testing before anything goes on board,” said Mr Pivano. “Using digital twin simulations they can solve challenges in designing, commissioning, constructing, operating and assuring complex integrated systems.”
For OSP to provide this assurance, various ship models must be shared and reused.
“There needs to be data sharing and protection of IP rights and co-simulation of models of different sources,” said Mr Pivano. He expects these abilities and standards for working with OSP will be available from June this year. “There will be standards for simulations, so there is a common understanding,” he said. “We will be able to collaborate and run virtual integration.”
Mr Pivano cited the example of using OSP to develop an OSV for the maintenance of offshore windfarms, employing a walk-to-work system. He said the gangway initially proposed for the vessel was designed to operate in maximum wave heights of 3 m.
However, when installed on the digital twin the vessel’s maritime stability changed, meaning it could only operate in wave heights up to 2 m, reducing the sea and weather window of operations.
Mr Pivano explained that using the digital twin, the vessel and its subsystems could be designed, tested, changed, optimised and retested in different sea conditions. “We can ensure these systems are safe and useable,” he said.
*Open Simulation Platform partners: China Offshore (Deepsea) Industry Alliance (CODIA), Corvus Energy, Damen Shipyards, Equinor Energy, Harbin Engineering University, Havyard Group, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Inmarsat, Kongsberg Digital, Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering (KRISO), Liebherr Components, Lundin Norway, MacGregor, Monohakobi Technology Institute, Offshore Simulator Centre, Thyssenkrupp, Vard, and ÅKP Blue Innovation Arena.
OSP will develop a standardised co-simulation interface that will allow virtualised versions of assets to be simulated together (for example, it would allow a thruster to be simulated alongside the main engine). This will bring together the digital twins into a co-simulation master algorithm, incorporating multiple systems.
Potential uses for digital twins include optimisation, requirement design and type approval during the design phase of a project, integration, testing and acceptance, interface management and certification in the construction phase and change management, troubleshooting, training and classification in the operational phase.
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