Vikings' ship designed with modern methods. Alan Durajewski's engineering thesis | Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Ship Technology at the Gdańsk University of Technology

Gokstad find is a ship from the second half of the 9th century, found in 1879 in Norway during the dig of a burial mound. It can be seen in the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. It is an example of a snekkja, the smallest of the longships used in warfare. 

The project describes the features of Scandinavian ship-building, relating to the possibility of recreating it with modern technologies. The model was built with 3D and surface modeling, in order to ensure the highest quality of the obtained results. Using 3D modeling is also possible, however, in this case it would lead to a high degree of inaccuracy of components. 

Modern vs traditional

What is the difference between modern and traditional technologies? As far as differences in keel construction are concerned, the modern ones are often glued from several pieces of wood. In traditional construction methods, the builders tended to use a solid piece of wood. In the model I designed, the keel is practically the same as in an original ship - says Alan Durajewski, ME - A bigger difference appears in the case of beams. I applied my own solution here, consisting in making a special cut allowing the positioning of the hull planks. 

Alan Durajewski, ME, concentrated on Solidworks software in his ME thesis. 

The results show that CAD-type software works well for digital reconstruction of archeological finds. Correct design approach allows filling in the missing date in case of incomplete finds. When the workshop documentation is being created on the basis of a 3D model, it is possible to gather information necessary to build a replica - says Alan Durajewski. 

An important part of the project consists in a detailed description of the work methodology - essential for the reconstruction of an object in a historical form. Such assumptions translate into the description of the preparation of a 3D model and presentation of prototyping process, allowing the selection of the most optimal solutions.

The documentation can be used for preparing projects made with similar ship-building technologies, MES/CFD analyses, construction of a ship replica for a commercial usage and increasing the attractiveness of museum exhibitions with visualizations and animations. 

Alan Durajewski's ME thesis was supervised by Cezary Żrodowski, PhD, ME.