The design of steel offshore structures is a complex iterative process involving a very diversified range and depth of knowledge Similar to other engineering design, creativity and success in offshore structural design is only possible through the extensive experience of the designers. However, this experience is generally heuristic and non-algorithmic in nature, and is not always conveniently accessible by the newly graduated engineers. Fortunately, most offshore platforms are of the fixed steel template-type, and can be classified according to various attributes such as the water-depth and geographical location of the installation. Hence, the problem of organizing and representing this ill-structured expert knowledge in computer programs for expeditious use by inexperienced engineers is ideal for the application of knowledge-based expert systems. In this paper we discuss an implemented knowledge-based expert system which can assist engineers in the preliminary design of shallow water steel offshore structures.

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