The development of a practical pipe auto-routing system in a shipbuilding CAD environment using network optimization

Abstract

An automatic pipe routing system is proposed and implemented. Generally,the pipe routing design as a part of the shipbuilding process requires aconsiderable number of man hours due to the complexity which comes fromphysical and operational constraints and the crucial influence onoutfitting construction productivity. Therefore, the automation of piperouting design operations and processes has always been one of the mostimportant goals for improvements in shipbuilding design. The proposedsystem is applied to a pipe routing design in the engine room space of acommercial ship. The effectiveness of this system is verified as areasonable form of support for pipe routing design jobs. The automaticrouting result of this system can serve as a good basis model in theinitial stages of pipe routing design, allowing the designer to reducetheir design lead time significantly. As a result, the designproductivity overall can be improved with this automatic pipe routingsystem.