Boat Equipment Design Methodology Based on QFD and FEA

Defining the potential buyers’ needs and requirements should precede any concept design. Most usually, such needs and requirements are defined through statistical analyses. Due to various buyer profiles, there are also as many various market niches laying down the relevant equipment features. In this accordance, market analysis for sailing boats has been suggested with the objective of determining differently featured boat equipments. To that purpose, the Quality function deployment technique (QFD) is suggested as the first phase of the methodology. In that way, systematic identification and validation of potential buyers’ needs and requirements were enabled, leading through a precisely determined procedure to the basic parameters for defining the targeted equipment configuration. In the second phase, the Finite element analysis (FEA) is suggested for the global strength analysis and optimization of the previously selected equipment configuration. In the paper, the suggested methodology was used in the case study dealing with the racing sail boat keel selection and design. Furthermore, the design approach was presented on the selection of the keel body and bulb parameters and on calculations such as the geometry, mass and centre of gravity