Abstract In recent years, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and major classification societies have revised the Harmonised Common Structural Rules (HCSR) multiple times to meet the increasing demands for safety, environmental protection, and cost-efficiency in the shipping industry, particularly for oil tankers and bulk carriers. Against this backdrop, optimizing structural design while reducing construction costs under the latest regulatory framework has become a key research focus in naval architecture. This study takes the cargo hold section of a 158k DWT oil tanker as the research object. Based on the latest HCSR regulations, targeted modifications are made to the structural design. The cargo hold model is first evaluated using rule-based calculation software compliant with the latest standards, followed by finite element analysis (FEA) to assess yield strength and buckling strength. Through iterative optimization, a cost-effective final design is achieved that fully complies with the latest HCSR requirements while maintaining structural integrity and economic feasibility.
Zhu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.