Bug fixes:
- Fixed a bug where waterline dimensions were improperly calculated in heeled models with protruding underwater appendages.
1.43
Additions:
- New calculations: submerged volume, displacement in fresh water, longitudinal center of floatation, moment to change trim, longitudinal metacentric height.
- Added a “Delete cached data” button in Settings window to reset training data for specific model. Use if your SOLIDWORKS model changed significantly, or if you get slow/incorrect simulations.
Changes:
- Improved the accuracy of metacentric height calculations to avoid discrepancies between different results in 0° and non-0° heel angles.
- Renamed some calculations from “lateral” to “transverse” for less confusion.
- Improved launch macro now automatically obtains the location of the .exe file.
- Solver attempts number is now respected for all Modes.
Bug fixes:
- Fixed a rare issue where center of buoyancy Y coordinate was incorrect for certain types of models.
- Fixed regression on a bug where Trim Angle Limits was ignored in certain calculation modes.
- Fixed launch macro issue where it would “forget” the location of the .exe file.
Using FLOATSOFT data in Excel for additional calculations
If you require additional calculations that are not directly available in FLOATSOFT, it can be very easy to set up a simple Excel spreadsheet to interrogate simulation data.
In this example, let’s take a look at a 30ft powerboat design that has design displacement of 2200 kilograms.
With this displacement, the powerboat has a draft of 0.34 meters, with the center of buoyancy at the location marked with the blue square.
In this example, our design process requires us to figure out how high will this powerboat ride with 3° trim angle at 14 knots (7.2 m/s).
To answer this question, we will need to iterate through a range of draft values at 3° trim, measure the bottom surface area, and calculate lift force. By subtracting lift force from the buoyancy force, we get a net force – and the draft where it is zero, is the ride height of the powerboat.
To start, we will set up a study in FLOATSOFT, asking it to provide us with draft, displacement, trim angle, wetted surface area and wetted transom area. We are only interested in the bottom surface area, since the transom is at a wrong angle to provide lift, so we will later be able to obtain it by subtracting these two areas.
We will also set up Iterate Through Draft mode from 0.25 to 0.35 meters, since we can reasonably assume the draft we’re looking for will be somewhere in this range.
After a minute or so, FLOATSOFT provides us with the results. We can then export the data table to .csv and import it into Excel, or just directly copy-paste the desired range.
In Excel, we can transpose and format the data if required to make it easier to build equations.
We can add a few more static cells for design displacement, water density and velocity. Finally, we add a few more columns to calculate bottom area, lift force, buoyancy force and net force.
In this case, the equations are as follows:
Bottom area = Wetted surface area – Wetted transom area
Lift force = (Water density * Velocity^2) / 2 * Bottom area * COS(Trim angle)
Buoyancy force = Displacement * 9.82
Net force = Design Displacement * 9.82 – Lift Force – Buoyancy Force
Note that in Excel, degrees need to be converted to radians. The lift force equation is a fair approximation of the real lift force that assumes a relatively flat bottom with no lifting wings or tabs, but for critical applications you might want to run CFD simulations to confirm it and add a fudge factor for any future calculations.
With this information, it is very easy to see that the force equilibrium, where net force is 0, is between 0.295m and 0.3m draft, probably around 0.296m. Using this information, we can put in this number back into FLOATSOFT, and continue on from there for any additional calculations or measurements that we might need.
This is just one example of how to manipulate data from FLOATSOFT to obtain additional calculations that you might need. You can download the Excel file used in this tutorial here.
1.42
- Fixed a bug where running Iterate Through Heel with Auto Trim enabled would ignore Trim Limit setting.
Is it possible to get the GZ curve from the software?
Yes. In FLOATSOFT, you can get this curve by enabling Lateral Righting Arm calculation in the Settings menu, and then running Iterate Through Heel mode from 0° to 180° with a 10° step (or as required). When calculations are finished, plot the curve by selecting Lateral Righting Moment in the Graph drop-down menu (below the results table), and click Show Graph. Before running calculations, make sure you input the correct CoG Coordinates, so the results are valid.
1.41
- Updated to 4.8 .NET Framework.
- Added EV code signing certificate to reduce issues with antivirus and Windows SmartScreen.
- Updated license manager
1.40
Bug fixes:
- Fixed a crash on application launch due to Windows settings on file extension visibility.
- Fixed a crash when displaying numeric results with extremely small models and low decimal precision setting.
- Improved automated crash reporting to cover more scenarios.
1.39
Additions:
- You can now double-click on any column in the results table in the Iterative modes to load that iteration in the SOLIDWORKS model view (if Show processed hull is enabled), and also run Resistance calculations on that specific iteration.
- Added an ability to generate SOLIDWORKS macro that will launch FLOATSOFT from within SOLIDWORKS. To generate this macro, click the dedicated button in the Settings menu.
Changes:
- Application will now display only the final solution render in the SOLIDWORKS model view area. The intermediate steps will not be shown. “Debug mode” has been added to Settings window that reverts this behavior to earlier one.
Bug fixes:
- Fixed a bug that caused wrong units in the results table header row in Iterative modes.
- Fixed SOLIDWORKS file extension getting added to the exported file names.
- Fixed a crash when opening Resistance window with dual-monitor setup.
- Fixed a crash caused by memory file usage by other applications.
- Fixed a crash when taking CoG from invalid SOLIDWORKS files.
- Added protection for resistance calculations with invalid models and unrealistic immersion.
- Added write protection to exported files.
- Fixed message boxes appearing behind splash screen.
- Fixed Iterate Through Trim mode allowing invalid trim values.
1.38
Additions:
- It is now possible to adjust the smoothing of the FLOATSOFT solver algorithm to improve performance and reduce the number of failed solutions. The slider to adjust it can be found in Settings window. Increase this slider if FLOATSOFT jerks the hull model around, decrease if you get “no solution” errors.
- FLOATSOFT will now color results in red if some of them are not valid to make a clear visual indication.
- One additional report – Sink Rate. Displays approximate sink rate of the vessel, expressed in displacement units per length units, calculated based on waterplane area.
Changes:
- Minor GUI restructuring. Simulation attempt limit in the Settings window has been renamed to Solver attempts, because the solver is now used throughout the application, not just in Simulation mode.
1.37
Additions:
- It is now possible to limit the range of heel and trim angles when using Simulate Natural Buoyancy mode. This allows for a faster solution, and also to narrow down the required solution when the vessel can be stable in multiple orientations. The limits can be set via Settings – Simulation angle limits.
Changes:
- If SOLIDWORKS API call fails to provide valid measurements for the hull at specific orientation and submersion due to invalid geometry, FLOATSOFT will attempt to slightly adjust the draft until a solution is possible. If this adjustment is included in the solution that is used to take final measurements, there will be a warning message to notify the user that the results might be slightly off, rather than providing no results at all.
- Added a splash screen and changed the application icon to the new company logo.
Fixes:
- Improved resilience to crashes due to invalid geometry SOLIDWORKS bodies.
- Added a missing displacement check to Simulate Natural Buoyancy mode.
- Fixed the Feedback window functionality and automated crash reports.