Reliability-Based Operational Performance Metrics for Ship Structures

Program management is a discipline on which new systems and technologies are formed. It is very often concerned with reducing or mitigating the risks associated with cost, schedule and performance. This report introduces reliability-based performance metrics to manage structural system performance, specifically for Navy surface ships, and allows the risk associated with the platform structural performance to be mitigated as is done with other platform systems, such as electrical and mechanical systems. Ship acquisition and life- cycle management would be significantly improved, as it would allow the platform stakeholders a selection of figures of merit, upon which decisions can be based, and an accounting system for tracking the structure through its operational life. Current US Navy acquisition strategies do not incorporate quantitative structural performance measures and thereby do not adequately mitigate the programmatic risk of not meeting performance top-level requirements. The methodologies presented and demonstrated in this report serve as a starting point for achieving a completely quantitative, performance-based structural management environment based on existing structural analysis and reliability technologies.Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Div Bethesda is the author of 'Reliability-Based Operational Performance Metrics for Ship Structures' with ISBN 9781423501732 and ISBN 142350173X.