Maxsurf News - October 2007
In this issue Formation
Design Systems is pleased to announce the release of version 13 of
Maxsurf. This brand new version sees Windows Vista as well as 64-bit
support, new all-in-one installers and some new user interface features
that offer alternative ways to manipulate the Maxsurf model. All
members of the Maxsurf subscription program will be sent Maxsurf
version 13 over the coming weeks.
Automated Surface FittingA
common project for Naval Architects is checking the stability
characteristics of existing designs. Existing designs can arrive in a
range of different input formats including paper lines plans, CAD
drawings or a table of offsets. Before a stability booklet can be
produced, a Maxsurf model must be created. Maxsurf already offers a
multitude of import options to allow users to create marker points from
offsets, images or CAD drawings.
The user then typically fits a
NURBS surface to these markers using the surface fitting tools
available in Maxsurf and Prefit. One of the advantages of using NURBS
is that the user can achieve a fair hull shape. However, this can be a
time consuming process and often it is not required to produce a fair
hull shape - especially if only hydrostatic calculations are required.
To address this, users can now automatically generate a TriMesh surface
from a set of organised marker data. This means that checking the
stability characteristics of existing designs using data from offsets
or linesplans in CAD or paper format is now possible without doing any
manual surface modelling. For example: starting with a paper lines
plan: the user should scan the image and import it in to Maxsurf. This
is used to digitise the sections one by one in body plan view. Then,
using new commands in the Markers menu, generate a grid from the
markers and sort the marker stations from bottom to top. The final step
is to simply run the "Generate TriMesh" command.
The resulting
TriMesh can easily be checked using a rendered view in the Perspective
window. Although a TriMesh is quite different to a NURBS surface (it is
a mesh of triangular panels between marker points) this mesh can be
used to automatically generate sections for analysis in Hydromax,
Hullspeed or Seakeeper. TriMesh surfaces can be used for monohulls and
multihull vessels of any size.
Free Online LearningRegardless of whether you are new to
Maxsurf or a long term user, there is always something new to learn as
we add additional capabilities to the software. To help all users
improve their skills and knowledge, we have launched a new Learning Maxsurf section on our web site. In this area new users can now learn
the basics of how to use Maxsurf in less than a day. More experienced
users can also use this resource to refresh their understanding of the
concepts, tools and techniques in Maxsurf. With the release of version
13, all users have access to a comprehensive set of training materials
including explanation of concepts, step-by-step tutorials, sample
models and videos. You can do this training directly from our web site
or from your local hard disk after downloading and installing the
document and videos. Click here to go to the Learning Maxsurf section on our website now!
Enhanced Modelling EfficiencyOur
main focus for Maxsurf version 13 has been to enhance user productivity
while modelling in Maxsurf. In the previous release we added the
ability to customise the user interface of all Maxsurf applications
including toolbars and docking options for the Assembly pane. In
version 13, a Properties pane has been added which provides the user
with an alternative way to modify properties of surfaces, control
points and markers. When the Properties pane is visible and a
control point or group of control points is selected, the control point
properties will be displayed in the Properties pane. These properties
can then easily be edited, for example to move the entire selection to
the centreline or a certain deck height.
In the same way as the Assembly Pane, the Properties Pane can be set to
floating anywhere on screen, docked or set to auto-hide so that it is
never in the way, but always at hand. On our web site you can find some
videos demonstrating several of these options. Click here to see a video showing the latest floating and docking options for the Assembly and Properties pane.
Dynamic Trimming EnhancementsThe
dynamic trimming in Maxsurf still offers Maxsurf users a unique
advantage in working with automatically updating trimmed surfaces when
they are modified or moved relative to one another. Version 13 now has
right-click trimming on rendered surfaces in the perspective view.
Trimming
in rendered mode has the advantage that it is much clearer to see which
regions of the surface should be trimmed away. Selecting and right
clicking rendered surfaces will now display a right click menu which
includes the most commonly used surface commands including trimming and
the ability to switch the selected surface in case there are several
surfaces behind each other.
Another important enhancement is
that the surface precision setting is now saved with the design and all
applications in the Maxsurf suite open the model at the saved
precision. This guarantees that the trimming information is the same as
when you last saved your model.
Hydromax ReportingHydromax
now has an option to send analysis results directly to Microsoft Word
after each analysis or batch analysis. This means that editing reports
can now be done directly in the Word editor without the need to copy
and paste individual tables or editing the Report in Hydromax' in-built
RTF report editor.
The Hydromax Loadcase window has been
enhanced to allow additional formatting and grouping options. Loadcases
now include a weight per item as well as a total weight column. These
minor changes in version 13 reduce the need for downstream editing of
reports.
Workshop Plate Accuracy Checks and EnhancementsUsers
of the Workshop module of the Maxsurf Suite have always been able to
rapidly define and calculate plate expansions from the Maxsurf surface
model. Ever since the first release, each version of Workshop has
included minor optimisations to the plate expansion algorithms leading
to more accurate plate expansion geometry. In version 13, this has lead
to plates being consistently calculated within a 2 mm accuracy
tolerance! This new version of Workshop checks for the plate to be
within this 2 mm tolerance each time you calculate the plate. This
provides you with utmost confidence that your plates will be 100%
accurate after the steel has been cut and the plate is attached to the
frames in the yard.
There has never been a better time to update your old version of Workshop or try out the demo!
Workshop Frame Boundary Surfaces
In the frame definition dialog the user can now specify which
surfaces should be used for the frame’s boundary and whether to use
these boundary surfaces in trimmed or un-trimmed state. This makes it
even easier to update frame definitions to match changes in the Maxsurf
surface model.
Roll Motions of Catamarans in SeakeeperA
novel approach for the modelling of catamaran roll motions has been
implemented in Seakeeper. The theoretical background to this work is
fully described and comparisons with model basin experiments shown in a
paper to be presented at FAST’07 in Shanghai, September 2007:
“Catamaran Motions in Beam and Oblique Seas” by Giles Thomas, Lawrence
J. Doctors, Patrick Couser, and Mani Hackett.
Essentially the
roll added mass and inertia for the catamaran vessels is computed from
the heave properties of a single demihull. This has been found to
provide accurate predictions of the roll response, particularly for
catamarans with wider spaced demihulls (S/L above about 0.35). The
premise being that for a catamaran in roll, the motions of the
demihulls are predominantly in the vertical plane with very little roll.
User ProfileEvery release we show how our software helps a Maxsurf user stay ahead of the game. Check out how Southerly Designs
work with Maxsurf, Multiframe and ShipConstructor to produce a wide
range of medium sized vessels in a highly competitive market.
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