Solidworks and ship CAD compatibility

Hi everyone,

I'm kind of new to these forums, so I'm sorry if this topic has been covered before, but I did a forum search and couldn't find anything.

I've been using Solidworks for years and am pretty skilled with it, but using lofts to make anything more complex than a kayak is pretty difficult.

My question is if ship CAD programs like Delftship or Freeship can export certain file extensions that are compatible with Solidworks. This would let someone design the hulls in Delftship and then do the superstructures and other features in Solidworks. I've heard that Delftship used to be able to export .IDF files, but the new versions cannot.

Appreciate any help!

-John

 

Cataphract I have exported out of freeship 2.6 in “iges” file format into solid works 2005.

 

We used to use solidworks and there are 2 main problems you will face.

1. Longitudinal stiffeners and frame cutouts. To get longitudinal stiffeners to follow the hull properly you need to use 2 rails and a pierce relation which becomes slow and tedious. Complex stiffener cut out shapes can kill your model speed.

2. Hull changes. Once you import an iges and build your model, any changes to the hull shape need a new iges and when you re-import it your model references will fall over.

It is possible and it depends on the size and type of boat but its not very efficient, which is probably why Rhino and Shipconstructor still dominate in this industry.