The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) has developed a software platform called isSAFE. It helps designers assess the survivability of a warship - its ability to avoid attack, withstand hits and restore important functions so it can continue to carry out its mission.
The main achievement is not an individual calculation but the combination in one environment of three types of analysis that were previously performed with different tools. These are vulnerability (how much the ship suffers from a hit), recoverability (how quickly it restores key functions) and overall assessment of results. Previously, separate software, often foreign, was used for each element.
In the study, ship survivability is broken down into three components. The first is the probability of avoiding detection and attack. The second is resistance to damage from a hit. The third is the ability to restore critically important systems after a strike. isSAFE allows a ship model to be built, various hit scenarios to be generated and all calculations to be carried out sequentially in a single workflow.
The system creates hit scenarios on the basis of a uniform distribution across all directions, probability distributions, and data on radar cross-section (RCS - how much the ship reflects radio waves and is visible to radar) and infrared signatures (IR - heat signature). Simplified and detailed vulnerability analysis is supported for surface ships, and simplified analysis for underwater threats.
In isSAFE it is possible to model compartments, equipment, crew and vital systems - for example, propulsion, power supply and firefighting. The program then assesses damage under different scenarios and checks whether the functions needed to carry out the mission are preserved. This makes it possible to compare the survivability of different ship configurations.
The developers expect the platform to be useful to the Republic of Korea Navy, shipyards and other users in designing and assessing survivability. The center is currently continuing to improve the recoverability analysis module based on damage control and is creating integrated management of databases on threats, equipment, systems and materials.
The next stages are planned to improve compatibility with external analysis tools, release versions for conceptual design and training, and expand cooperation with the fleet and industry. The first public demonstration of isSAFE was held in the main conference hall of the R1 building at KIMM headquarters in Daejeon. On a virtual model of a frigate, the entire process was shown in real time - from modeling and hit generation to vulnerability and recoverability analysis. Results were also compared for two models with the same hull but different propulsion systems.
"The key feature of isSAFE is that the three elements of survivability - avoiding attack, resistance and recoverability - are considered together in a single design environment," principal researcher Euiyoung Kim was quoted as saying in a press release. She added that the developers will take into account feedback from industry, academia and the military in order to apply the platform in real design work.