Engineering Mathematics in Ship Design

With over that 70% of the Earth submerged by seas, continents separated by oceans, two thousand major islands scattered throughout the World, hundreds of thousands of kilometers of navigable rivers, maritime or fluvial transport surely represents one of the most important ways of moving people, goods, and wealth around the globe. This kind of transport has been widely used along the human history and development, allowing achievements not reachable in any other way in commercial, economic, technological, and even social aspects. As a consequence, the study of topics related to the ships design has always been a relevant aspect in every civilization and time. From the moment when the man has decided to face the sea on a boat up to the present day, a myriad of designers has posed the same fundamental question: ‘are there knowledge or tools that can support the design of my boat in the way to make it as fast and safe as possible?’. This notable question was for who prepared the boat for the pharaoh about 3000 years before the Jesus Christ, as for who is designing the new catamaran for the next American’s cup just now. However, fortunately, these centuries have allowed us to develop a profound knowledge of marine engineering, including a large range of methods and techniques useful for every boat designer.
Engineering mathematics, in particular, is a study field where mathematical methods and solving techniques are combined, regardless of the (analytical, numerical, or experimental) approach to offer a response to physical dilemma and to solve practical engineering problems.
In the present edition, this knowledge is employed to obtain several important recommendations about diversified fields of ship design, from the structural analysis in hulls up to methods that take into account the environmental sustainability in maritime transports.