Optimising ship principal dimensions with a Dung Beetle Optimizer and random forest proxy model

Shipping serves as an important component of global trade, with speed being a key attribute closely tied to navigational resistance. Amid rising marine pollution, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) requires shipowners to modify ships to comply with existing requirements. Herein, focusing on the static water sailing resistance, whole-ship hull line optimisation was conducted for Japan Bulk Carrier (JBC). The optimisation included the bulbous bow, inflow and outflow sections, and the parallel mid-body. Initially, a random forest resistance proxy model was introduced to replace traditional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods. The model's hyperparameters were optimised using the Dung Beetle Optimizer algorithm. Subsequently, this algorithm was employed to optimise ship design parameters. Finally, comparisons confirmed the proxy model's high precision, and the optimisation yielded substantial outcomes, achieving a 4.7% decrease in resistance.