RISK-BASED DESIGN

The importance of risk analysis methods in engineering design applications continues to increase day by day. Using these methods in the design process leads to Risk-Based Design (RBD). RBD is a procedural approach and uses probabilistic and risk-based approaches in the ship design process. Recently, international guidelines have been developed using the principles of RBD, which include initial design principles and scientific developments.

Before the RBD standards were established, new regulations or preventive measures were taken according to individual events in the safety regulation rules. Every catastrophic accident required a revision of rules and conventions by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) or classification societies. With the acceptance of the concept of RBD by IMO in 2009 and the new regulations made by IMO recently, the trend towards risk/purpose-based approaches in the industry has sped up.

Technological developments in the marine industry and the search for solutions for more economic systems have made the concepts of ‘innovation’ and ‘risk analysis’ a central point for the development of new ships. Ships and marine structures that can serve in different weather or operating conditions need to be designed using risk-based regulations and approaches, beyond being designed using classical regulations and standards. For this reason, risk-based design gains importance in the design and construction process of new systems in the marine industry, and innovative designs are developed and built by considering International Standards and RBD principles.
While RBD was recognized by IMO, new systems have been started to be developed in the marine industry by taking into account RBD principles. In RBD, it is necessary to determine and develop the most appropriate risk assessment and analysis technique. Moreover; current information, conditions, circumstances where circumstances change or unexpected events occur at sea should also be taken into account. There is a need for new designs that will increase security in order to create strong and flexible processes, revise existing models, use risk models and use resources with proactive approaches in systems.

While design and design process safety used to be less of a concern, maximizing reliability has now become a key principle for every new design. By eliminating or reducing the errors, both the accidents that may occur in the process and the safety of the product reaching the end customer are among the most important priorities. Reducing errors and increasing reliability will bring customer satisfaction and quality. Before RBD methods were used, errors generally occurred in the product, process, or design, and solutions were produced after these errors occurred. Today, however, errors are tried to be determined by making analyses before they occur, and errors are tried to be eliminated before they occur by taking corrective measures.

In the design of ships and offshore structures, the FONDA team uses the Risk-Based Design philosophy to design the most reliable systems for their customers and offer them their service.