My recommendation would be a combination of the Maxsurf suite and ShipConstructor.
Maxsurf for hull surface design
Hydromax for hydrostatics and stability
Hullspeed for resistance analysis (if required)
Seakeeper for ship motions analysis (if required)
Workshop for preliminary structural design
Shipconstructor for detailed structural design
Note that within the Maxsurf suite we do not attempt to do detailed structural design. Instead we stop at the point where the major 2D components (plates, frames, girders, decks, stiffeners etc.) are generated in Workshop from the 3D model. These are then exported via a DXF or IGES file to any general purpose CAD package such as AutoCAD, Microstation, CATIA etc.
Shipconstructor is an ideal environment for managing the parts generated from Workshop within AutoCAD, and gives the user a lot of ship specific drafting functions. It has very little overlap with the functions of Workshop - Shipconstructor functions commence where Workshop leaves off, so the two programs are complementary rather than in competition.
As a result of this we have added a specific Shipconstructor file output to Workshop to allow parts to be transferred to Shipconstructor while retaining all of the manufacturing data related to the part (i.e. part name, material, thickness, weight) that would otherwise be lost when transferred through a DXF file.
Please contact me via
info@formsys.com if you would like further information or have a look at our web site. Demo versions of all our programs are available for download or a CD can be mailed out to you.
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