A surrogate model for DP operability predictions in the feasibility study of motoryachts

In recent years, Dynamic Positioning (DP), traditionally employed in offshore units, has become a widespread technology onboard motoryachts. DP systems allow stationing in environmentally protected areas without the use of chains and anchors, which can be invasive to the seabed ecosystem. The functionality and capabilities of the DP system onboard a yacht must be investigated since the early design stage. Being DP a system that employs propellers, rudders, pods and bow thrusters, it is necessary to provide suitable DP prediction models to allow designers to size such devices properly. The paper proposes a fast model for estimating the DP operability in the typical sea areas of interest of a motoryacht to be used during the feasibility study of the unit. Starting from a database of 15 hulls, generated with the Design of Experiments (DoE) technique, environmental forces have been estimated to perform DP operability calculations. The DP results have been used to develop a surrogate model for DP operability, which applies to the feasibility study of a motoryacht.