2466. Total Ship Weight Management Computer Program – For Today’s and Tomorrow’s Applications

Paper

Abstract

Real-Time Ship Design Weight Estimate (RTSDWE99) is a comprehensive mass properties application that provides a sophisticated user interface along with the latest database technology to aid the mass properties engineer in preparing, monitoring, and predicting mass properties data as required by the Society of Allied Weight Engineers (SAWE) Recommended Practice No. 12, rev B. The software is based on established weight estimating methodologies built-into older software versions and expands those concepts along other newer ones by taking advantage of the capabilities and flexibility offered by the latest technologies in Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), relational database functionality, and connectivity. With the addition of a new module for tracking engineering change proposals, and work-in-progress on the feasibility weight estimate module, RTSDWE99 has been transformed into an integrated system that can support mass properties operations from cradle-to-grave. RTSDWE99 calculates weights, moments, ship?s center-of-gravity, hydrostatics, moments-of-inertia, engineering changes, twenty station longitudinal weight distribution, and also facilitates external ad-hoc queries to the mass properties database The application was developed using MS Visual C++ and C, and is intended primarily for PC operation with Windows 95/98 or NT operating systems. The application has the capability to communicate with various Database Management Systems (DBMS) such as ACCESS, ORACLE, and INFORMIX by the use of Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) interface. The application software is comprised of dialog panels and child panels that help the user in preparing weight estimates. The dialog panels are tied to several database tables, and each panel has a fixed set of database functions. Functions are provided either by pull-down menus or standard and familiar database icons. These panels along with the standard database capabilities of search, add, modify, and delete, provide other advanced capabilities such as, modify-by- group, Query-by-Example, and others. The software has the capability to track several variants of a specific design within the same database. Also, an open dictionary capability is provided to track the engineering change proposals (ECPs) process, since this process is customized for each procurement program. ECPs are tracked from the proposal stage to the final adjudication and incorporation into the weight estimate. The program gathers mass properties information according to the requirements of the Society of Allied Weight Engineers (SAWE) Recommended Practice No. 12, rev B, through the use of interface panels by manual input, existing data – master files input, and properly structured output from computer aided design (CAD) systems. The software has extensive reporting capabilities. Output may be reported in several formats, such as customized text output, MS Word, MS Excel, and several other formats. The software provides for a full range of weight report options such as one, two, three digit and full or partial details, and various ECP reports.