Development of mould loft settings was regarded as one of the techniques of highest level in shipbuilding. Various kinds of geometrical and instrumental methods were properly used according to the types of curved surface to be developed. Recently, with the aid of digital computers, some arithmetical methods have been adopted as an application of electronic data processing system to the conventional geometrical development. However, they are not always considered to have the necessary accuracy and sufficient universality in practice. It is essentially recognized that development on a digital computer is to be performed by solving the differential equations obtained on the infinitesimal portions of curved surface to be developed. Based on this standpoint, the authors have contrived a lot of mathematical methods to develop curved hull structures by means of a digital computer, and have organized these for practical use in hull production design. Among the organized developing methods now in common use, developing curved shell plating is as described in this paper.
