IPDOS. Interactive preliminary design of offshore structures

Abstract

This paper describes a microcomputer-based integrated 'intelligent' system, IPDOS, for the interactive preliminary design of fixed offshore structures. IPDOS is an attempt to simultaneously overcome the weaknesses in conventional programs and exploit the user's earlier experiences with them. In IPDOS, a knowledge engineering environment is coupled with a conventional structural analysis and design package. Production rules are used in the knowledge base to represent the elicited heuristic and qualitative domain knowledge. Past successful design cases are represented in dBase data files to facilitate referencing by the system. In addition to design, IPDO also double as a computer-aided tutor to teach neophytes how to design fixed offshore structures for the shallow water regions.