The maritime industry is progressively transitioning towards sustainable practices, with a significant focus on integrating zero-emission power generation systems. However alternative fuels and technologies implementation on large scale is still pending.
Ships and especially yachts today are designed just for their immediate needs with no future consideration taken into account. This thesis addresses the need for adaptable power room designs in superyachts, facilitating the integration of zero-emission power generation systems as technology evolves. The primary aim is to develop a design method enabling easy retrofitting and future-proofing of yacht power rooms.
The research identifies the current design methods limitation where power rooms are designed for specific scenarios without considering future adaptability. To address this gap, the thesis proposes a three-step design method: layout concepts, design rationale, and a layout evaluation model. This model evaluates power room layouts based on Connection Costs and Retrofit Costs, offering indicators to assess future-proofing capabilities of power rooms arrangements.
A future-proof road-map based on four different scenarios was identified. By applying the design method to these scenarios, various layout concepts were developed, refined based on expert opinions and then evaluated with the model. The results highlight key practices for future-proofing power rooms, such as prioritizing connections between zero emissions power generation systems and auxiliary systems, pre-arranging transport equipment, and designing access openings to facilitate easy retrofitting.
This research underscores the need for a flexible approach to power room design, ensuring superyachts can transition smoothly to zero-emission operations in the coming years.

With fluctuating market demands, the tugboat industry confronts the challenge of adapting its supply chain to meet customer customisation needs while managing low order predictability. This study examines the shift from a Make-to-Stock (MTS) to three alternative production configurations based on the Assemble-to-Order (ATO) and Make-to-Order (MTO) configuration, focusing on the tugboat industry’s need for flexibility in response to market changes and customer-specific requirements.

The core issue addressed is the trade-off between investment risk and customer satisfaction, as the proposed configurations increase delivery lead times. To quantify the costs associated with adapting delivery lead times, a Bill of Materials and Operations (BOMO) is utilised, combining the Bill of Materials (BOM) with the production sequence (Bill of Operations, BOO).

A mathematical algorithm is developed to calculate the financial effects of the configurations based on BOMO data. The model involves a three-step process: importing part data, merging BOM, BOO, supplier, and transport data into a BOMO dataset, and performing value analysis on the BOMO data to quantify risk exposure and financing costs over time.

The study’s findings indicate that while increasing delivery lead times, the MTO configuration significantly reduces the risk exposure and financing costs. The BOMO is a strategic tool for analysing material costs and delivery lead times, providing insights into the financial implications of different production strategies. The research concludes that the MTO configuration is viable for Damen’s tugboat production, balancing risk exposure, financing costs, and delivery lead times.

The European Union has recently revealed a plan called ”Fit for 55.” The plan aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 55% before 2030. It includes FuelEU Maritime, which will introduce new emission regulations for ships over 5000 gross tonnages. The regulations will require shipowners to reduce their carbon footprint. The European Union has decided not to wait for the International Maritime Organisation’s emission rules (IMO) and will enforce them for ships by 2024. By 2025, the rules will extend to offshore vessels with a gross tonnage of 400 or more and general cargo vessels carrying commercial goods between 400 and 5000 gross tonnages.
Efforts are being made to find a hydrogen carrier that closely resembles conventional oil-based products to comply with these regulations. All these fuels need to be produced with renewable energy sources, which have their efficiency losses. Renewable fuel production is only estimated to have a chemical efficiency of 50%.
Innovation in the shipping sector is necessary to reduce energy losses. The shipping sector fits the rules of rural society, where incremental innovations are preferred over radical changes. However, radical change is necessary to accomplish the energy transition in shipping. According to the DOI theory, innovators are the first group of adopters. Innovators are eager to try new ideas and have a cosmopolitan (global) network. These innovators will play a critical role in the energy transition in the shipping sector.
The study’s objective is to analyse if it is possible to influence a given adoption of the innovator. First, the research outlines the theoretical framework for the study. The literature search aims to determine a transition framework to answer the research sub-questions. The framework’s scope will be refined to the innovator group and the maritime sector. A case study will be conducted to test the defined framework, and factors outside the scope may be included if needed. The literature collection approach involves determining the philosophical framework before researching the sociological framework. The mainstream innovation and inclusive innovation frameworks have been identified from a philosophical perspective. The mainstream innovation framework focusing on radical and technological typology is more appropriate for the research study. Rogers’s sociological framework can be used to describe the adoption process. The Scopus search has been used to identify different theories, including spatial innovation frameworks, sectoral innovation systems (SIS), technological innovation systems (TIS), and path development. Finally, the study provides an overview of the innovation systems and their corresponding frameworks……

Inland shipping is an efficient way of freight transportation, especially in the Province of South Holland (the Netherlands), but this sector faces a significant challenge in further reducing climate change effects and local health and environmental impacts caused by the combustion of diesel fuel.

In this study, an analysis of the inland shipping sector in South Holland and its challenges and opportunities regarding a transition to “zero-emission” shipping is performed, based on a life cycle assessment (LCA). This LCA compares the environmental impacts of the annual operations of a medium-size, short-route inland barge, comparing different engine technologies and energy carriers: diesel in a combustion engine, hydrogen (grey/blue/yellow) in a combustion engine, hydrogen (grey/blue/yellow) in a fuel cell-electric power system, and electricity in a battery-electric power system. Results are obtained for 2020, 2030, 2050, and 2100, based on the SSP2 pathway for future socio-economical development wherein the electricity grid mix decarbonises and fossil-based diesel is phased out in favour of biodiesel and synthetic diesel, and assessed using the EF v3.1 assessment family.

The results indicate that the most significant sources of emissions are barge operations (for combustion engines, especially for diesel, and most of all for older diesel engines) and the fuel supply chain (for diesel and hydrogen), as well as some contribution from the production of batteries (for the battery-electric alternative) and fuel cells (for the hydrogen fuel cell alternative). Contributions from the life cycle of the barge hull, lubricant and oil streams, and infrastructure are minor. The main contributor to climate change is CO₂, and the main contributors to local health and environmental impacts are emissions of particulate matter (PM), NO_x, and SO_x.

For the selected case study barge, a battery-electric system provides the strongest reduction in environmental impact (climate change, acidification, photochemical oxidant formation, and PM formation) even with background data for 2020, and its advantage increases further as the electricity grid decarbonises. The battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell systems are the only ones which can be labelled as “zero-emission”, although the life-cycle emissions of hydrogen are high in the short term and its advantage only becomes apparent beyond 2030.

Among the hydrogen variants assessed, yellow hydrogen – produced by electrolysis from the electricity grid – has the lowest life-cycle climate change impacts in the long term, although it is not a clear winner when considering local health and environmental effects (acidification, PM formation) from its production. A hydrogen fuel cell system provides a slight but consistent benefit over hydrogen combustion due to a higher efficiency and the absence of operational emissions.
Sensitivity analyses indicate that the advantage of a battery-electric solution disappears for barges transporting larger loads and sailing longer distances, due to the larger energy capacity this requires, and becomes entirely impractical for long routes, where a hydrogen fuel cell solution provides the lowest impacts overall. Hydrogen fuel cells lose their advantage over hydrogen combustion for barges requiring very high engine power due to the additional impacts from fuel cell production exceeding the reduction from emission-free operations...

With the energy transition taking up speed and strong decarbonisation ambitions offshore wind is becoming a major source of green electricity. European countries are among the leading drivers of the offshore wind expansion on both the wind turbine as well as the vessels side. It is expected that until 2030 170 GW of capacity can be installed, equalling 16000 wind turbines. The wind turbines are serviced using either small vessels or commissioning and service operation vessels (C/SOVs) when parks are larger and in more challenging conditions further away from shore. The C/SOV market is still in development and it is not known how many of these vessels are needed to serve the European offshore wind industry in 2030. It is further unknown until now which factors influence the need for these vessels as both market dynamics as well as operations have not been researched until now.
This research first defines the quantifiable factors influencing the need for C/SOVs in offshore wind parks. These are the park parameters such as the distance to shore and the number of turbines in the park. These data are used in a factor model and Monte Carlo simulation to make an assumption on the required number of vessels. The results are then compared against qualitative factors influencing the need for C/SOVs indirectly.
Out of a high and a low case, the low case was shown to be the most likely fit for the research results. It showed that to serve the offshore wind market in 2030 between 122 and 138 vessels are needed, which is 12 to 28 more than currently are active or on order.
Considering the fact that the industry needs to adapt to a new market, it is crucial to know which factors drive that market and how they influence it. This project allows for researchers to dive further into these factors and research them in more detail. Further the research can assist industry players in their investment decisions and yards can accordingly plan capacity.

With the current focus on climate change, the shipping industry is forced to decarbonise its fleet. The need for decarbonisation is not only fuelled by the aspirations of the sector but also by laws and regulations from countries and organisations. As these laws are gradually tightening and there is not one clear technical or operational solution, there is a need for a strategy to combine multiple operational and technical solutions. These solutions, as well as other aspects, are associated with risks and uncertainties, such as fuel prices, technical aspects and cost. To help the decision makers in this field, this research aims to present a method that can be used as the basis for a decision making tool. The method will mainly focus on finding the lowest total cost per tonne mile but will also consider other aspects that are found to be necessary, such as safety and technological readiness. The difficulty in the decision is the number of factors that could influence the decarbonisation of the vessel and how these aspects influence each other. The addition of CRSs (Carbon Reduction Systems) will affect the operation profile of the vessel and, with that, the fuel use of the vessel. With fuel being one of the main expenses of ships, fuel use will affect the total cost of the vessel. The method will combine several different analyses to consider all aspects and risks. The strategy will be created by adding CRSs every time the vessel does not comply with the regulations anymore, affecting the vessel's operational profile and fuel use. The cost of fuel use, and other OPEX, will be evaluated with an NPC (Net Present Cost) analysis to compare costs in time. These costs will then be entered into an MCA (Multi Criteria Analysis) and combined with the other criteria, such as safety and technological readiness level, leading to a strategy selection. To increase the method's robustness, the whole set of calculations will also be subjected to a Monte Carlo simulation to mitigate the risks that concern future inputs. The method was translated into a model where a case study was carried out to validate the method and to find some early insights. From this came the result that the method creates valid answers and that there is one method that is the most cost-effective manner to comply with the regulations. This is plainly sailing slower; it has almost no expense and significantly reduces the cost of shipping.

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) that are integrated with the electricity grid have proven to be a suitable solution for reducing costs by providing flexible demand, but are often uneconomical when used solely for this purpose. Despite the research efforts showing the benefits of an energy-integrated harbor-area smart grid (HASG), the integration of onboard BESS in synergy with shore power connections has not been considered in the literature. Moreover, not from the financial perspective of the vessel owner.

This thesis addresses the integration of onboard BESS with a shore power system. More specifically, by presenting a cost-effective energy management system (EMS) that uses a stochastic approximation to define the charging and discharging decisions based on electricity prices. Additionally, the system takes the uncertainty of wind power production into account and reduces the power strain on the grid. Besides this, the research provides an analysis of the battery parameters that influence the cost-reducing ability of the EMS. As a result, the additional cost reduction presented while at berth may allow for previously uneconomical investments in onboard BESS for SSCV operators.

The wait-and-see (WS) approach was applied to provide an optimal energy scheduling solution with regard to uncertainty in wind power generation. Within the WS, three strategies were applied. By optimally scheduling a 5MWh BESS, the arbitrage, arbitrage + peak shaving, and peak shaving strategies respectively achieved a 1.4%, 15.7%, and 10.2% yearly reduction in electricity costs for the vessel operator during a 100-day stay in port.

Maritime transport represents one of the main means of product delivery and passenger transportation across the world but its impact on climate change has positioned it among the world's biggest CO2 pollutants. One of the most impacted regions in the world by maritime transport emissions is the South Pacific Region. Studies show that if climate change is not mitigated, then the increase in temperatures could lead to droughts, changes in intensity, frequency and duration of cyclone seasons, sea rise and effects on ecosystems, food security, and economy in the region. Thus, the goal within this century is to keep the global mean temperature to 1.5°C.
With this idea in mind, the regional goal of the Pacific nations was set for a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions from shipping by 40% until 2030 and complete decarbonization until 2050. A possible solution proposed by the local organizations such as USP and MCST is the implementation of Wind assisted ship propulsion (WASP) on existing and new built vessels. In that regard, a collaboration was initiated between TU Delft and the University of South Pacific to assist by developing a methodology and a practical tool that can assess the technical performance and environmental, economic, and societal impact of WASPs. For this reason, this thesis investigates the applicability of WASPs in the South Pacific Maritime Transport using a proven vessel, Sailing Vessel Kwai, as the main case study.
The method employed for the overall research was an adaptation of the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA). The LCIA encompasses the environmental impact from cradle to scrap of a certain product. The present study considered only the operational cycle of the vessel's hybrid propulsion and its impact on the triple-bottom-line items. Aspects such as the impact of manufacturing, scraping, painting or machinery waste have not been included and need further research to conclude the LCIA. The conceptualized methodology represented the theoretical foundation for the development of a practical Excel tool that assesses the technical performance of the hybrid propulsion, fuel and emissions output, norms compliance and ship finances. The novelty of the research stands in the assessment of SV Kwai from an academic perspective. Empirical methods and frameworks were used for the impact on society, ship finances and the environment. The results of the case study are promising for the future of shipping in the South Pacific region. Even though SV Kwai has the hull of a 71 years old fishing vessel and is retrofitted with sails and an oversized engine, it still accomplishes tremendous fuel reduction of around 37% per voyage. The calculations have shown that a similar trend line is encountered for the CO2 and SOx emissions. From an environmental and policy-making perspective, SV Kwai fits within the international emissions EEDI chart, CII chart mile and in the CATCH index. EEDI and CII parameters were calculated with regard to reference line formulas provided by the IMO for general cargo vessels.
Overall, the present research is an indication of an early-stage WASP design performance and its impact on the local South Pacific region. Several conclusions have been drawn with regard to the future of WASP technology in the region and its applicability.

Environmental impacts of a sailing cruise voyage have not yet been assessed from a lifecycle perspective. Thus far, only conventional fuel-based cruise holidays are related to various environmental impacts and are known as an energy intensive form of tourism. International regulations are increasingly stringent on direct pollution and energy-use related impacts but exclude upstream and downstream externalities in sustainability targets for cruise tourism. Whether sailing cruise tourism can form a truly low-impact alternative to conventional (i.e. fuel-based) cruise tourism however, depends on a myriad of lifecycle interactions. Consequently, a manageable lifecycle approach is needed for estimating the distribution of direct and indirect impacts of a sailing cruise voyage. Furthermore, when sailing cruise operators wish to mitigate their environmental impacts, focal points of impact hotspots and alternatives need to be determined.
In this design-oriented research report the Seafaring Applied Impact Ladder (SAIL) is introduced. This framework makes use of fast track-LCA methodology for determining systemwide impact distribution and mitigation pathways for major impact contributors in sailing cruise lifecycle systems. By applying the SAIL to a case study sailing cruise voyage on board the Clipper Stad Amsterdam (CSA), insights in impact distribution and feasible impact reduction emerge.
The case study found that a passengers’ fuel related carbon footprint is greater for conventional cruises than for a sailing cruise on board the CSA. In the SAILs systemwide assessment however, fuel-related impacts remain the major culprit for all three included indicators. Food consumption and crew flights generate a considerable additional share of systemwide impacts. For fuel combustion and food consumption, technological substitution can result in feasible impact reduction, which is quantified in the fourth step of the case study.
The SAIL proves itself a useful and improvement focused approach for impact assessment in sailing cruise lifecycle systems. The presented procedures form a straightforward approach from which practical inferences for impact reduction follow. Further application of the framework in case studies will contribute to sustainable development in (sailing) cruises and broadens the scientific domain of impact assessment.

The forming of double curvature shipbuilding steel plates is performed by experienced craftsmen at IHC Metalix. Their experience will get lost when they retire; therefore, it can be valuable for future metal workers to capture the forming process of a double curved plate theoretically. An analytical description and understanding of the forming process will help craftsmen. In the future, it could even lead to the development of automatic forming machines.
This research investigates plastic deformation initiated by a rolling and a three point bending machine forming a saddle shaped plate. A 2Doptimization for the three point bending process is performed using beam theory. A single bend is validated by a 2D Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The rolling process is analytically described by equations obtained from literature. These equations are used to find a relation between the material stretching/membrane strains and the rolling forces. Furthermore, an elastic perfectly plastic stress strain curve is used. Material hardening and residual stresses due to repeated bending or rolling operations are not taken into account.
The bending optimization resulted in the least number of bending operations needed over a cross section, assuming the cross section behaves like a beam. The rolling equations resulted in required rolling forces for a desired membrane strain. The craftsmen know by experience that bending operations should be performed first to initiate a first curvature. Thereafter, the plate is rolled to initiate the second curvature and form the saddle shape.
In this thesis, the first steps are taken to capture and predict the manual forming process of double curvature steel plates. Future work on this topic should take the 3D-effects of the three point bending into account which lead to more accurate analytical descriptions. Furthermore, other assumptions could be analyzed to get better understanding of their contribution.

Autonomous vessels carry the potential to increase the profitability of shipping companies. It is believed that an autonomous vessel design operates more efficient compared to a manned design. In this thesis the challenges of autonomous shipping and its consequences on ship design and the operation are identified. This information is used to give a cost analysis on the autonomous variant of a manned vessel. The results from thesis can be used by researchers and ship owners to determine whether its autonomous ship design and its operation are economically viable. This is valuable for investors to decide whether their case is favourable for autonomous shipping. The main question answered is: What are the operational conditions under which an autonomous battery powered vessel design is economically viable over its electric manned variant?

The changes in ship design and its consequences result in a change in capital and operational cost. The removed crew systems and additional equipment cost are presented. Overall a decrease in both capital and operational cost is expected. The actual size of the cost reduction is case dependent. Therefore the operational conditions which affect the economical viability most, are identified. They are identified in a case study on a dredger operating in a port. The design and capital cost factors are presented, where after it is concluded that the displacement, battery capacity, distance to shore and the vessels specific operation influence the cost benefit. Therefore they are presented as the operational conditions.

The operational conditions are tested in two case studies. For both case studies a significant cost reduction is obtained. These vessels are thus economical viable. The size of the overall reduction is dependent on the operational conditions. It is concluded that the displacement has a relatively small effect on the total cost. The battery capacity however, does have a significant effect. The capacity decrease is largest for vessels with an original large hotel load and large battery capacity. The larger the battery decrease, the larger the decrease in cost. Furthermore, vessels that operate within the Wi-Fi zone are favourable over vessels operating further from shore because of its communication system. Finally, the vessels specific operation regarding crew and accommodation size are most significant. The operational cost decrease for manning is larger for larger crews. In addition, the cost decrease for the accommodation section and its operational benefits are significant.

The adverse human contribution to global climate change has forced the yachting industry to acknowledge the need to reduce its environmental impact due to the client's increasing pressure and potential future regulations to limit the ecological effects. Unfortunately, current real-world data presents a significant disparity between predicted and actual gathered energy consumption results. Thus, this research aims to develop an approach to accurately predict total dynamic Energy Consumption (EC) using real operation voyage data for the improved early-stage design of future yachts. A grey-box modelling (GBM) solution combines: physics-based white-box models (WBM); and black-box model (BBM) artificial neural networks to provide estimations with high accuracy and improved extrapolation capacity. The study utilizes ten months of onboard continuous monitoring data, hindcasted weather, and voyage information from a Feadship fleet yacht. Upon applying a sequential modelling methodology, predictions are compared between the three model categories, which ultimately indicated propulsion and auxiliary estimates fall within 3% and 7% error of operational conditions. The study is then continued using external range datasets to evaluate the extrapolation potential. While GBM improvements are seen over the BBM, limitations were directly related to the strength between dynamic WBM input-output correlations. Finally, a general consideration decision structure is detailed to provide naval architects with practical knowledge and confidence in future applications of the GBM modelling approach and when such methods are appropriate.

Fatigue strength is typically a governing limit state for marine structures. Predicting an accurate fatigue lifetime is important for structures (e.g. wind turbines) that are supposed to be out at sea for decades. It is valuable for all type of structures that encounter stochastic sea loadings to optimise the design so that fatigue failure is predicted for, or material is saved in preventing over conservative estimates. This research contributes to the investigation of multiaxial fatigue concepts by getting insight in the mode-III loading & response conditions for the effective notch stress concept. The mode-III loading & response will in this research be represented by a tubular welded joint loaded under torsion. A semi-analytical formulation is developed to describe the weld notch shear stress distribution analytically. This formulation can be used as input for the effective notch stress concept. The formulation is based on three components, the notch stress, weld load carrying stress and far field stress component. Furthermore, the static force and moment equilibrium is satisfied. The weld load carrying stress component is based on a weld load carrying stress estimate. This coefficient is used because the weld geometry causes a local change in stiffness, a shift in neutral axis, meaning the weld becomes load carrying up to some extent. The distribution must be corrected for this phenomenon which is done by this estimated term. The geometry is a tubular welded joint. This specimen can be loaded with torsion which in the case of the tubular joint cause mode-III shear in the through thickness direction at the weld notch level. The weld load carrying stress estimate is based on the geometry ratios of the assessed specimens. It is individually fitted for all 6,300 geometries by comparing the results to stress distribution obtained with 2D finite element analysis. The results of the individual fitted load carrying stress estimates are used as input of a multi variable polynomial regression analysis. The regression analysis led to a polynomial function that describe the load carrying stress estimate which uses geometry ratios as input. The far field information and geometry dimensions are the input for the semi-analytical formulation to obtain the weld notch shear stress distributions analytically. Accurate results are obtained and therefore the formulation can be used as input for the effective notch stress concept. The effective notch stress concept is also based on a material characteristic length, ρ*, over which the stress distribution can be integrated to obtain the effective notch stress. This parameter is obtained using a log likelihood regression analysis and led to a value of ~1 [mm]. Although this is a good result, the confidence regarding the value is low due to low variety in the experimental data set and little data in general. The findings of this study will be used in further research regarding the 4D fatigue project and the effective notch stress concept in general at the Delft University of Technology.

Currently there is an energy transition from fossil fuels towards zero emission fuels within the marine sector. In addition to this, improvements are made in system design with regard to standardization of which allows for variation. The combination of these two improvements is found in the EU H2020 NAVAIS project which focuses on customer tailored vessels in combination with a standardized and modularized approach. The specific objective is to use modularity to help support the development of zero-emission propulsion methods for a ferry. The objective is fulfilled by answering the main question of this research: “How can the energy carrier and conversion system of a ferry be made environmentally friendly and modular and how does the inclusion of low emission and modularity objectives impact the power supply and total design of the ferry?”
In the approach a Systems Engineering approach is used, including the V-cycle or the RFLP approach. In this approach the design is approached by the elaboration of the Requirements, Functionalities, Logical design and the Physical design. Based on the main vessel requirements, research requirements are defined as well which are the system’s ability to be: future proof, modular, fulfilling the energy and power requirements, the ability to be refitted and technical feasible. A platform approach is defined, which is called a platform approach, and for this research includes: The top-down approach, the common-core approach the design approaches combined in the platform approach are practically applied by using a design support tool which is the Design Structure Matrix.
The DSM and specifically the clustering algorithm has the goal to find modules based on minimizing interactions between modules. This is done based on the logical or technical decomposition where only the sub-systems are included in the matrix. The interactions between the sub-systems are defined using a binary definition. The clustering algorithm is used where random groups of sub-systems, named clusters or potential modules, are formed which then are evaluated based on the interactions and parameters to control the size and interactions between the clusters. Simulated annealing is used to optimize the solutions in combination of multiple runs for the defined system configurations. In this way interchangeable modules can be defined which can be used for the diesel generator, dual fuel and fuel cell configuration. The multiple solutions are merged into combined potential modules after which the results are evaluated. The evaluation is done based on the number of interactions, the technical feasibility and physical evaluation of the modules and finally based on the ability to standardize the interactions of the module. These steps result in a suggestion of modules which are interchangeable and are based on a minimization of interactions between or outside the modules. While leaving the ability to extend the method to allow for new alternative fuel systems.

A watertaxi can reduce the travel time through the city of Rotterdam in comparison with public transport. To make estimations on the average reduced travel time within Rotterdam, a generic method is developed. This method is capable of finding locations for watertaxi jetties. To achieve this, the watertaxi, public transport, and the walking to and from the jetties is modelled as a complete undirected graph. The formulation of the Median p- Hub Location Problem is changed by adding a second type of node and allowing direct links. With a case study to Rotterdam, the method shows to be useful to find the average reduced travel time in urban areas.

This report presents insights in the feasibility of large-scale multi-AGV based parcel sortation systems. A simulation model is created to look at the influence of different aspects of such an Automated Guided Vehicles system. The model uses several design parameters and KPIs to determine the level of influence. Important aspects of this research are: the charging process of the AGVs, influence on pick-up points (parcel collection) and drop-off points (parcel destinations) and multiple types of AGVs on the same map. The AGVs will be modelled by an A* algorithm and uses grid-routing (either X or Y -movement at the same time). These kind of AGVs are controlled by a centralized robot control system. The task allocation the AGVs is done by a market- auction-based algorithm.

The first test set consists of a map of 1000m2 to operate at a throughput of at least 1600 parcels/hour. Here the placement of the pick-up points on all sides of the map is more efficient than on either one or two sides. Though the placement of two sides is further used as it is a more probable solution due to the use of large truck-bays and smaller vans in terms of a parcel sortation center. A linearity is found when adding more AGVs to the system. This is in between 5-50 AGVs for the 6 and 8 pick-up points with a ratio of 44.62 parcels/hour per additional AGV. Linearity is decreased due to more queueing and re-routing by congestions to 39.86 parcels/hour per additional AGV for 10 and 12 pick-up points. The charging process reduces the throughput with at least 7.54 % on a 16 hour simulation run. This is with a ratio of 5.71 AGVs per charging point. Using a higher ratio leads to AGVs shutting down due to low battery charge states.

Another test case is analysed with a 3000m2 area and the demand of achieving a throughput of at least 6000 parcels/hour. This is achieved by using 170 AGVs on a width of 75m and a length of 40m area. Even a small analysis is done in the use of 6 kg and 32 kg AGVs on the same working area. From which, a throughput of 1000 parcels/hour is gained by using 15 6 kg AGVs and 25 32 kg AGVs. The throughput is lower compared to using 40 32 kg AGVs: 1400 parcels/hour. Loss in efficiency could be considered compensated by the reduction in terms of AGV purchase costs.

This research has no optimization process, more potential is possible if an optimization is done with a more elaborate/complete (design) plan. This optimization could lead to more efficiency and more insights of an AGV parcel sortation system. Finally the possibilities of multiple types of AGVs on one map can be further investigated, with additional task allocation schemes or a more elaborate research in the pick-up points process.

Several different kinds of Miracoli Dinner kits are produced on Line 4 in Oud-Beijerland. The current method of planning of production is not sufficient in terms of product availability and planning nervousness. A new method of Most-Urgent-First planning is proposed and a simulation is run to measure the performance in order to see if another method of planning is preferable.

Hydro-elasticity is important in the evaluation of a category of wave energy converters (WEC). In this paper, the hydro-elastic response of a bulge wave energy converter is examined by the implementation of a two-dimensional potential theory. The numerical implementation of the Frank Close-Fit method (FCFM) defines hydrodynamic coefficients and incident wave loads, where computation time is reduced with respect to the three-dimensional boundary element methods (BEM). These coefficients are included by a two-way coupling in the equation of motion for bending and bulging, which defines the interaction between incident waves, radiated waves and wall deformations. The results are compared to analytical and numerical methods and this analysis reveals that the addition of the FCFM to a modal analysis is valid to use for hydro-elastic problems in bulge wave energy converters.