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Tutorial 1: Design simple hull
1. If you have an existing design open, first close it by selecting
File | Close. Now create a new design by selecting File | New Design.

2. Go to Data | Units, and select metres as the units for length,
and tonnes for weight.

3. Go to the Surfaces | Add Surface menu. Select the default
surface.

4. Make sure that you have one of the design windows topmost
and choose File | Save Design As; specify the file name and where
you wish it to be saved.

In the Perspective window, you should have something like this (turn
on the Net Display | Net | Show Net to show all the control points,
and turn on the Half display Display | Half, so that you see just one
side):


5. Set the precision to medium (Surfaces | Precision | Medium).
This allows the program to work relatively quickly, without losing too
much accuracy.

6. Now we can make the surface approximately the correct size
for the design. This is done with the Surface | Size Surfaces
command.

Place a tick next to the default surface (it should be the only one in
the list). Then type in the length, beam and depth values (42m, 14m
and 8m respectively). Leave everything else unchecked.

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Save your design again (File | Save Design or by pressing the
button).


7. We will add some shear to the hull by lifting the forward
control point in the profile window. Remember that there is only one
control point here, so it can be selected just by clicking the mouse on
it and dragging it to its final position:


Now move the forefoot up a bit. Remember there are two points here
so select them both by dragging a box over them:


Then click on the selected control points to move them:
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8. We will now fair the plan shape, so switch to the Plan
window:


First we will close the bow, by dragging all the forward control points
onto the centreline: If you hold the shift key down whilst dragging
them, they will only move in the vertical or horizontal direction. This
helps to just move them into the centreline without moving them
longitudinally:


Now close the transom a little. Remember that there are two points
here so drag a box over the control points to select them both and
move them into the centreline a little:
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9. We will now add control point rows and columns to increase
control of the surface.

In the body plan view, add a row between the top and middle rows, by
selecting Control Points | Add Row, then clicking on the activated
column (whichever column has a highlighted control point), at the
position you wish to place the row.



Control point columns can be added in either the plan or profile
views, in much the same way as this row was added; highlight a
control point in the shearline edge (topmost row), then go to Control
Points | Add Column, and click on the required position of the new
column, along the topmost control point row. Hydromax should add a
new column here. If the shape distorts unexpectedly, undo the move,
and try adding the column to the bottom edge instead. Add 2 columns
of control points, one either side of the middle column; try to keep the
columns evenly spaced along the length of the hull.


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10. Review the surface properties in the surfaces window
(Window | Surfaces), you should have a B-Spline surface, with the
maximum stiffness that will still allow the shape you require; this is
limited by the number of control points defining the surface, so will
be an iterative process; for the moment we will constrain the
longitudinal flexibility to 5, and the transverse flexibility will be 3.

11. Now we can manipulate the edges to gain the desired shape.
Start with the edges in the profile view then move to the plan view,
and finally the body plan view. Moving between the windows a few
times, verifying any changes in the other views, you should start to
gain a fair overall design.

12. Now we need to set the frame of reference and zero point.
First, go to Data | Frame of Reference, and click on the Find Base
button, this will set the baseline at the lowest point of your design.
Now enter a value of 5 m in the DWL edit box. Select Set to DWL,
and the perpendiculars will be set to coincide with the intersection of
the bow and transom with the datum waterline. Click OK.

Now go to Data | Zero Point, and set the zero point to the Aft
Perpendicular and the Baseline. Dont check Locked Zero Point, this
will ensure that if the aft perpendicular moves, the zero point will
move with it.




13. To better visualise the shape, we shall add some sections. This
is done in the Data | Grid Spacing dialog:
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Click the Add button and type 11 stations. Then click on the Space
button and select "Evenly along the length of the model". When you
click OK, the station positions will have been automatically
calculated.

To add a section at the transom click the Add button and enter 1 in the
edit box. The default longitudinal position is zero, click the Sort
button and rename the station to st 12. Click OK to close the window.


Similarly create 3 waterlines, make one of these the datum waterline,
2 buttocks and 2 diagonals.
These can now be switched on using the toolbar
buttons they will give you a good idea of the
overall hull shape. Save your design again.

14. In the body plan view, if the net is turned off, the columns can
be viewed and therefore manipulated individually. These are selected
by clicking on the control point indicator for the column you wish to
view in the inset box. The section closest to this column (and
therefore the most affected by the movement of those points) is also
displayed. Any other section can be viewed instead, by clicking on its
section indicator in the inset box.

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15. By manipulating the control point net in all three views, we
can achieve the required hull shape. We know that our overall
dimensions are correct, but the waterline dimensions need to be
altered, so that they match the design requirements. L
WL
is the same
as L
BP
, because we set the perpendiculars to the DWL, so we need to
manipulate the design to make this equal to 40 m, and the B
WL
equal
to 14 m. The draught has been set to 5 m already.
These dimensions can be viewed by selecting Data | Calculate
Hydrostatics. This will also give you an idea of the volume of your
vessel, and several other useful values, including the Block
Coefficient, which should be maintained as close to the required value
of 0.65 as possible, to prevent unnecessary distortion of the vessel
later on.

Manipulate the edges of your design first, and then the internal
control points, until you are happy with the shape of your design.

16. Select Data | Parametric transformation, and select search for
Block Coefficient, set the required value to 0.65, and constrain the
waterline Length, Beam and Draft. Click on Search.

Note: The programme is using Lackenby method to alter the position
of the sections, and not the actual sectional shape, so if your vessel
has a block coefficient that is a long way from 0.65, the program may
not be able to find the required value. In this instance, you will need
to manually adjust the sections in the body plan view to try to
increase/decrease the block coefficient, and then try the parametric
transformations again.