Marine Design Software for Hull Modeling

[Mike Inman]

I realize this is a special form of insanity, but is anyone else making hull shapes using OpenSCAD?

 

[xanthar]

I realize this is a special form of insanity, but is anyone else making hull shapes using OpenSCAD?

I've been trying but, not really having much success : (

 

[JotM]

I contemplated doing that shortly, but stopped once I found out about register-ware Polycad. ( Marcus Bole - PolyCAD https://www.polycad.co.uk/index.html ) Which does everything I'ld like to do and then some. But I'm a hobbyist.

Edit: I just realised I posted about this already three years ago. Please excuse me.

 

[Alexander Peter Bromley]

MaxSurf all the way!

 

[pafurijaz]

Blender 3D

 

[Skiff Man]

I was curious what software would be best for creating flat patterns from warped planes. I have been using creo for my profession for a while, but would like to switch for personal boat design work. Output
would be for cnc. Thanks

 

[DCockey]

I was curious what software would be best for creating flat patterns from warped planes.

Exactly what do you mean by "warped"?

Surfaces which can be unrolled flat without any stretching or shrinking are called "developable". But not all surfaces which appear to be candidates for unrolling flat are developable. The more diffcult task usually is designing developable surface which can be unrolled flat.

Rhino has two tools for unrolling developable surfaces. It also has several tools for flattening other surfaces though the result will have some stretching or shrinking. Rhino also has some tools for creating developable surfaces.

 

[Skiff Man]

Warped as in 2 directions. A curve with a twist. Not a formed (process) surface.Is rhino parametric model now?

 

[DCockey]

Developable surfaces can appear to be curved in two directions. They are not limited to simple cylinders and cones.

What is you need for flattening shapes? Is it making patterns for fabric tops or similar? In that situation something like the Squash or Squish tools in Rhino may be useful. These tools allow for distortion in the flattening process and Squish in particular provides options to control the distortion.

Or do you plan to design hulls, cabins, etc which are to built from sheet material. If so then the surfaces will need to be "close enough" to developable for fabrication.

Rhino is not parametric. If you need parametric CAD with capabilities like Creo then Rhino may not be satisfactory for you. A full version of Rhino can be downloaded free for a 90 day evaluation. Rhino - Downloads https://www.rhino3d.com/download

 

[Skiff Man]

DCockey
Thanks for the help/input. Yes sheet material for hulls and cabins etc. Used rhino years ago but struggled with the non parametric aspect. Probably worth a try again maybe a combination of the 2 softwares. Export surfaces to Rhino for flat patterns.
Modeled a boat from lines I would like to build, that’s the goal.

 

[DCockey]

The Rhino forum is the best place for information about Rhino. McNeel (developers of Rhino) employess moniter the forum and participate very frequently. Most questions are quickly answered. The form discussion is almost entirely devoid of politics and releated and personality conflicts. McNeel Forum https://discourse.mcneel.com/

 

[JotM]

Probably worth a try again maybe a combination of the 2 softwares. Export surfaces to Rhino for flat patterns.
Modeled a boat from lines I would like to build, that’s the goal.

Any specific reason not to use Creo for developing the surfaces?
Creo Parametric Help Center http://support.ptc.com/help/creo/creo_pma/usascii/index.html#page/surfacing/surface/To_Flatten_Surfaces_Quilts_or_Solid_Surfaces.html

For a surface to be developable, gaussian curvature needs to be zero everywhere. You should be able to check that with Creo.

 

[Alexanov]

Any specific reason not to use Creo for developing the surfaces?
Creo Parametric Help Center http://support.ptc.com/help/creo/creo_pma/usascii/index.html#page/surfacing/surface/To_Flatten_Surfaces_Quilts_or_Solid_Surfaces.html

For a surface to be developable, gaussian curvature needs to be zero everywhere. You should be able to check that with Creo.

You can check gaussian curvature with most of existing software packages. I think more important to have a good method for developable surfaces design.

 

[WarthogARJ]

What is the software used for most of the designs in the Gallery section of this Site? Which would be the easiest to use for MacBook Pro 2013 OS High Serria?

Hi,
I didn't see an answer to this, and it's of some interest to me since I'm an OSx user.

My personal feeling is that as soon as you get into anything that needs much processing power, especiually from a GPU, that a laptop, and especially a MacBook, is not the best platform to use.
And that's from a pro-Mac person.

As I see it, to design a boat rigorously, you should be making use of CFD, and that tends to be GPU heavy. And the direction that Apple is going with refusing to work with Nvidia will really hurt your choice of GPU.
And add to that, there is not a cost-effective MacPro workstation at the moment.

So I'd think that any serious boat design will be in Windows. Dunno about Linux.
Alan

 

[Dejay]

I'm not sure if there even is a CAD software that integrates with CFD. From what I gather it's almost always a separate software from the design and modeling software. Not sure what is possible with the expensive software, I'm only messing around with free stuff (e.g fusion 360).

And then as a professional designer you probably should outsource that part anyway to a specialist with his own computer too or use cloud services.

For example openFoam. Or simscale that runs open foam on their servers and has a web interface.