Solidworks for boat design

Does anyone use Solidworks 2000 to design boats (primarily hulls and cambered decks)?

I am having some dificulty in designing cambered decks easly. I can do it with time consuming drawing of sketches and lofting the deck as an closed extrusion.

Hull geometry is generaly imported from MaxSurf and has issues with the surfaces generated when imported. I can trim the irregularities out and again sketch and loft.

All and all the time It takes to do these things is to much.

If any one has done this type of work please help I am spinning my wheels and going nowhare.

 

[Kenneth]

You might try posting this in the SoldWorks forum (forum559) as well...

 

Hello Solidworksuser,

A yachtdesigner in Holland asked me last year if solidworks is a good tool for yachtdesign.I didn't have any experience with modeling complex shapes in solidworks so I did an advanced solidworkscourse at designsolutions in Holland.
I'm working with Solidworks 2001.This version has more functions for making surfaces than Sw2000.Sw2001+ is even better with surfaces(mirror surface is very handy).
I import the autoshiphull as an IGES,Use the deck center line and the sheerlines(as guided curves)for a sweep.
The transom is often a loft.I use the transom for trimming the hull surface and than use the deck and hull to trim the transomsurface.I found that working with (untrimmed) surfaces is a good way to model a boat in Sw.After al the edges are filleted and the model is OK I thicken the hull to make it a solid.
The superstructure is a combination of projected curves(use these as guided curves or as loft sections)and the cl of the profile view.etc etc.It still takes more time to make a ship in Sw. as it would in a surface modeler, so using it in combination with Rhino for example (cheap and easy!!)makes it a bit easier.
good luck,
nvo76@hotmail.com

 

The problems with imported hulls from maxsurf are probably caused by tolerance settings.When importing a IGES,STEP or SAT file you have to use the highest tolerance possible (for example 0,0000005).And try to import a UNtrimmed surface.Sometimes Solidworks can't "see" the (iges)boundaries you made in maxsurf and the imported hull looks like it was bombed.Do the trimming in Solidworks.
nvo76@hotmail.com

 

This is a good site to have a look.

(

http://www.yachtdesign.info/Software/General_3D_Modeling/page2.htm)

Go to designers,John Fox.This is a solidworksuser.The first boat on this site is a solidworksboat.

 

This is a good site to have a look.

(

http://www.yachtdesign.info/Software/General_3D_Modeling/page2.htm)

Go to designers,John Fox.This is a solidworksuser.The first boat on this site is a solidworksboat.