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Exploring 3
Overview....................................................................................................................................3
3D Product Model......................................................................................................................4
Generating a 3D Product Model ..................................................................................4
Group Technology .......................................................................................................5
Build Strategy ..............................................................................................................5
Work Group Areas.......................................................................................................6
Organizing Your Work and Data ...............................................................................................6
Projects ........................................................................................................................7
Units.............................................................................................................................7
Planar Group Drawings ...............................................................................................8
Parts .............................................................................................................................8
Other Drawings............................................................................................................8
Terminology...............................................................................................................................9
Starting ShipConstructor ............................................................................................................9
Toolbar Problems.........................................................................................................9
Checking Your System Font ......................................................................................10
Changing Your System Font......................................................................................11
Exploring the Supplied Data ....................................................................................................12
The Unit Drawing ......................................................................................................12
Register a 3D Unit .....................................................................................................13
The Navigator ............................................................................................................16
Viewing the 3D Unit..................................................................................................24
Viewing a Planar Group Drawing..............................................................................33
Viewing a Pipe Drawing............................................................................................40
Viewing a Nest Drawing............................................................................................41
Virtual Reality ...........................................................................................................41
Creating Export Drawings .........................................................................................41
Structure Tutorial 45
Overview..................................................................................................................................45
Structural Unit..........................................................................................................................46
Longitudinal Members...............................................................................................46
Planar Group Toolbars...............................................................................................46
Designing Frames ....................................................................................................................49
Overview....................................................................................................................49
Opening a Frame Drawing.........................................................................................49
Marking Intersections with Structure.........................................................................50
Scallops......................................................................................................................52
Manager Profiles & Plates Library ............................................................................56
ii • ShipConstructor Tutorial
Nesting 131
Overview................................................................................................................................131
Nesting Toolbar .......................................................................................................132
Nesting Preparation................................................................................................................132
Manager Nesting Settings ........................................................................................133
Nesting Colors and Name Prefix .............................................................................133
Nest Production Settings..........................................................................................133
Organizing Nesting ..................................................................................................135
Nesting Terminology .............................................................................................................135
Nest Drawing ...........................................................................................................135
Nests ........................................................................................................................135
Nest Templates ........................................................................................................135
Starting to Nest.......................................................................................................................136
Opening a Nest Drawing..........................................................................................136
Adding a New Nest..................................................................................................137
Inserting Parts into the Nest Drawing ......................................................................138
Inserting Parts (ShipConstructor).............................................................................138
Align Function .........................................................................................................140
Snap Function ..........................................................................................................141
Slide Part Function...................................................................................................143
Move & Rotate Function .........................................................................................145
Automatic Nesting .................................................................................................................147
Assigning Parts to Nest ..........................................................................................................148
Checking Nests and Creating BOMs......................................................................................149
Preparing the Nest BOM..........................................................................................149
Running Nest Check ................................................................................................150
Investigating the Nest Header ................................................................................................151
Nest BOM Count Standards...................................................................................................152
Checking for Overlap .............................................................................................................154
Checking for Un-nested Parts ................................................................................................155
Plotting Nests .........................................................................................................................156
Bridging .................................................................................................................................157
Exporting to NC-Pyros...........................................................................................................158
Remnant Control ....................................................................................................................159
Creating a Remnant .................................................................................................159
Spooling 275
Overview................................................................................................................................275
Spool info layout ....................................................................................................................275
Overview..................................................................................................................275
Viewing Currently Generated Spool Drawings .......................................................275
Setting up Spools ...................................................................................................................277
iv • ShipConstructor Tutorial
Overview..................................................................................................................277
Opening the Model to Prepare for Spooling ............................................................277
Creating a Spool Naming Convention .....................................................................278
Breaking the System Into Logical Spools................................................................281
Spool Properties.......................................................................................................286
Renaming Spools .....................................................................................................287
Locking the Spools ..................................................................................................290
Generating Spools ..................................................................................................................291
Overview..................................................................................................................291
Viewing Spools in the Navigator .............................................................................291
Checking the Spool BOM........................................................................................291
Checking the Spool Template ..................................................................................292
Generating Spool Drawings .....................................................................................293
Adjusting a Spool Drawing......................................................................................297
Index 319
Overview
We have prepared a partially finished ShipConstructor demo project for this tutorial. The project consists of one unit
called U12. One of the most time-consuming parts of the production preparation process is the detail drafting and
definition of all individual parts. For the purpose of this demo we have finished most of the parts to allow you to
carry out all further steps, even if you decide not to spend time to detail any more parts. However, we suggest that
you work through all portions of the tutorial in order to get a good understanding of the program.
The tutorial is divided into the following main sections:
• Structure:
• Pipe
• Outfit
Each of the sections above will take several hours to complete.
Overview
ShipConstructor consists of several program modules, which can be purchased separately. This tutorial covers all
program modules that are integrated into AutoCAD and the Manager module, which provides an interface to the
SQL database data of the project. The program modules covered in this tutorial are:
• Structure - Provides structural 3D modeling of the ship structure, assembly drawing generation, profile plots
and more.
• Nesting - Provides manual and automatic nesting.
• Pipe - Provides 3D modeling of pipes, generation of spool drawings, and creating and editing of Pipe catalogs.
• Outfit - Provides definition of outfit items and 3D modeling of outfit drawings.
• Manager - Provides an interface to the SQL data of the project.
During the Exploring chapter you will explore the supplied demo files and:
• Investigate different display options of a 3D unit drawing.
• Learn about planar group drawings.
• Learn about parts.
• Have a quick look at a nest drawing.
Group Technology
Achieving savings in production requires you to utilize ShipConstructor’s advanced production documentation to
implement Group Technology (GT) in production. To put it simply, using GT you group together identical or similar
tasks into small work packages. This allows you to perform similar or identical work on a group of production items.
A single person or small group carries out the tasks described in the work package. It is a common misconception
that large investments into robot assembly or panel lines are required to achieve significant savings during assembly.
Simple, but thoughtful reorganization of work contents, work areas, tools and good planning will achieve significant
savings and improved product quality without investing large sums of money. Of course, in the next step you might
choose to automate some of the production processes.
Build Strategy
At some point during the detailing process, you have to plan your build strategy. The build strategy is the sequence
of steps that have to be carried out to go from a single part through several assembly levels to a complete product.
This process is usually done top down, meaning that you start with the ship and break it down into units. Each unit is
then further broken down into assemblies and panels.
ShipConstructor helps you simplify this task by giving you full flexibility of the number of assembly levels and the
names you give each level. Using each of the assembly levels an assembly tree is easily designed. A designer or
planner can then assign each of the CAD parts to any of the assembly tree items to build a complete logical product
model. All that is left to do is work out a time schedule for each item in the assembly tree.
Projects
ShipConstructor follows this standard production practice. The work within a yard is usually organized in projects or
jobs. For example, Project 301, 302 or Job 101, 102. ShipConstructor uses the term Project. The ShipConstructor
installation program creates a folder named Projects at the location of your choice.
To organize the data further, ShipConstructor creates sub-folders for each construction unit and several other project
related data. ShipConstructor automatically manages all access to the data files.
Warning: Do NOT move, rename, or delete any of the folders or files manually. You might loose access to the
project. However, you may move complete project folders to other drives or folders.
Within the Project folder, you will find only one file, the Project File with the extension, “.PRO”. This is a text file
that lists:
• Where the database data for this project resides (name of the SQL server computer).
• What the database is called within the SQL server storage.
Units
A job is generally divided into production units or blocks. ShipConstructor uses the term unit. The size of a unit is
often determined by the maximum weight the yard can handle.
All files belonging to a unit are stored within the unit folder. Within the unit folder, you will find only one file: the
unit drawing. The name of the unit drawing file is the same as the name of the unit with the extension DWG. For
example, unit U05 will be located in the folder U05 in which you will find the file “U05.DWG”.
The unit drawing is the place where you start populating your product model within ShipConstructor. The general
approach involves importing sectional data for frames, decks and longitudinal girders into the unit drawing. The
sectional data may come from ShipCAM or any hull fairing software capable of exporting 3D sections to an
AutoCAD drawing.
Parts
Each structural planar group drawing contains one or more parts. Each part consists of:
Other Drawings
ShipConstructor utilizes many types of drawings. Don’t worry, ShipConstructor provides an exceptional tool, called
the Navigator, which lets you navigate through all drawings quickly and with comfort. Simply select the “TAB”
for the general portion of the project you wish to work on: 3D Unit, 2D Planar Groups, Nests, Stiffener Plot,
Assembly drawings, Standards, Interference drawings, Outfit, Pipe, Workshop drawings, Templates, or Export
drawings.
Simply select the drawing you require and open it to perform other functions, such as displaying properties,
unlinking it, and more. All these functions are explained in detail in the tutorial and the command reference sections.
Starting ShipConstructor
The installation program created menus in the Programs menu to start any of the ShipConstructor program modules.
1. Click the Start menu button and locate Program Files / ShipConstructor2001 / ShipConstructor2001.
Do not use the regular AutoCAD shortcut!
2. Please verify that the menu now shows the ShipConstructor menus called ShipConstructor and Planar and
that the ShipConstructor toolbars are displayed on the left side. You might have to arrange the toolbars
differently if your screen size is too small. See Troubleshooting if any item is not loaded or any toolbar button
looks like .
Tip: Arrange the ShipConstructor toolbars on the left side of the AutoCAD application window as shown in the
figure. This way you keep them separate from any other toolbars you have loaded, which prevents confusing the
ShipConstructor buttons with any standard AutoCAD buttons or buttons from other AutoCAD applications you
might have. All screen shots in this tutorial will show the ShipConstructor buttons at this position.
Toolbar Problems
Under normal conditions, ShipConstructor will load all required toolbars into AutoCAD upon start-up. However, in
many cases the user of a computer (Windows2000 Windows NT) does not have administrator privileges to install
The Navigator button displays a dialog that enables you to register a unit and access any drawings
associated with the unit.
The Manager button starts the Manager module, which opens the SQL database associated with the project.
Navigator
XREF drawings
Manager
Lock Files
2. In the navigator dialog select the 3D Unit tab and click the Register button.
3. The Register Unit dialog is split in two sections. With the upper section you select the project.
ShipConstructor actually stores several of your recently used projects. You can select any one of them from the
drop-down dialog. If the project line is empty, or the project you want is not listed, then click the Change
Project button.
4. With the Select Project File dialog browse for the project file you want. In our case it is located in the folder
where the ShipConstructor project demo files are installed. Click Open.
6. ShipConstructor prompts you to enter a password for the user called DEMO. Use the password “demo” and
click OK.
7. The licensing dialog is displayed. The licensing has changed compared to earlier versions. ShipConstructor can
now be purchased in several different modules and several different levels. As you may have a combination of
one or more local locks on you computer, plus one or more network locks on the network, the licenses that you
require can be acquired as a mix of local and network locks.
Press Yes.
8. ShipConstructor registers the unit drawing. The drawing is not actually opened. ShipConstructor simply
determines which files belong to the unit. It also establishes a link to the associated SQL database.
9. The Navigator dialog is displayed again. Click the Open button to load the 3D unit drawing. This will take a
short while. Watch the command line display at the bottom of the AutoCAD window. You will see that
AutoCAD is loading several XREFs into the 3D unit drawing - one for each planar group drawing. You might
get a different display depending on what layers are active.
The Navigator
The Navigator provides access to all project drawings from one convenient location. The individual areas of a
project are accessed using the different tabs on the Navigator. This makes file access quick and easy. After a while
you will wonder how you were previously able to find all the drawings associated with a project without a
Navigator.
3D Unit Tab
To register a unit, open the unit drawing, and reload the database file if required.
2D Group Tab
Displays all 2D planar group drawings in a convenient tree dialog. You can open any of the drawings, create new
ones, change the properties, mirror a group, such as a longitudinal bulkhead, unlink (delete) it, or activate the
UCS of it when in the 3D unit drawing.
Profiles Tab
To open stiffener plot drawings or create new ones.
Interference Tab
To open or create new interference drawings. An interference drawing allows you to calculate collisions between
ShipConstructor, Pipe, outfit and any other solids that you might import from other AutoCAD drawings.
Pipe Tab
The Pipe tab deals with Pipe, spool and arrangement drawings. You can:
• Open, create, and delete Pipe drawings.
• Open, create, and delete Arrangement drawings.
• Open Spool drawings.
• Set up the Spool BOM layout.
• Set up the Spool Naming conventions.
See the Pipe manual for more details on this subject.
Tip: Use these functions to produce 2D general arrangement and class approval drawings form the 3D
model.
View Point
Production Layers
Solid Layers
Production & Solid Layers
Layer Off
Layer Visibility
Shade
1. While in the unit drawing, click the Production Layers button. Now the drawing should look similar to
the screen shot below. Make sure you have the View shade mode set to 2D wireframe.
2. Click the Solid Layers button. The drawing should change as shown below.
Practice: Select different views to get a feel for the dialog, such as PLAN LOOKING DOWN or PROFILE STBD
TO PORT. You can also enter viewpoint positions in the data fields at the top right of the dialog.
Please be sure to select FWD STBD UP as the viewpoint when you are done.
1. Click the Solid Layers button to make sure the solid layer is active.
Using 3D Orbit
AutoCAD2000 and later versions feature another nice tool to show the 3D unit drawing in an easy to understand
way. This function is called 3D Orbit. The Orbit function allows you to view a shaded model dynamically. Please
refer to your AutoCAD manual to learn about 3D Orbit.
We have found the following procedures to be helpful when view a 3D unit drawing:
• Use Shading Modes / Gouraud Shaded. This appears to give the best results.
• Use More / Zoom Extents before rotating. Otherwise, you drawing may move off-screen.
Tip: After exiting 3D Orbit the drawing is left in a 3D view state identified by the 3D Orbit UCS icon instead of the
regular UCS icon. You have to select View / Shade / 2D Wireframe to return to the regular display mode. This
Arrange the 3D Orbit and 2D Wireframe icons side by side . The 3D Orbit mode is easily identified by
the UCS being displayed as , while the 2D Wireframe mode is displayed with a line style UCS icon
. You are now ready to switch between the 3D Orbit and 2D Wireframe modes conveniently.
4. Right click again and select More / Zoom Extents. It is important to set the rotation point within the
displayed image. Without this the image might rotate about a point far outside the screen and the image will
jump outside the display area when using the orbit functions.
5. You can now spin the model around by simply holding down the left mouse button and moving the mouse
around. It is easy to get confused though, so please read the AutoCAD manual or refer to the Help under 3D
Orbit.
Group Visibility
This function allows you to set which layer of each 2D group is visible in the 3D unit drawing. A complete
structural model of a unit tends to become quite complex. Often it becomes necessary to switch items off because
the drawing simply gets too busy. The Visibility Tree dialog provides a convenient way to set the visibility for
each planar group drawing in the unit drawing.
1. On the toolbar, click the Select View button. Select the view From FWD STBD UP.
2. On the toolbar, click the Layer Visibility button. The Visibility dialog is displayed.
3. A tree dialog displays all planar groups. Beside each drawing are “light bulbs” for the production PRD, solid
SLD and revision REV layers. A lit light bulb indicates that the layer is visible; an off light bulb indicates it is
not visible.
4. Click the light bulbs off for the solid layer of U12MDCK (Unit 12 Main Deck), and U12TTOP (Unit 12
Tanktop) as shown above.
5. Click OK
3. In the tree dialog click on U12F107. The Preview window displays a bitmap of the last saved drawing state.
4. Click the Open button. Tip: You can also double click on the planar group name in the tree view to open the
drawing.
5. The planar group drawing is opened.
Working in 2D on a planar group drawing greatly simplifies drafting, compared to working in 3D unit drawing. All
detailing in a planar group drawing is carried out as if working in 2D. Each planar group drawing can be detailed by
another draftsman in parallel, allowing your team to work on many drawings at the same time. Anytime someone
opens the 3D unit drawing it will show the latest revision state of each planar group drawing.
2. Click the toolbar buttons for Production Layers and Solid Layers alternately several times.
Observe the differences between the representations on the production and solid layers.
3. SHADE the drawing while the SLD layer is active.
• Stiffener Parts - Stiffener parts are made from profiles or flat bars. Most stiffeners are straight, but in some
cases are curved, such as for frames that are built up from profiles.
Plate Parts
Plate parts have to be nested, as they will be NC-cut or manually cut from plate stock. To produce the NC-code for
a plate part we need:
• One and only one closed outside toolpath.
• One closed inside toolpath for each hole.
• Marking lines for any markings that the automatic marking unit on the NC machine has to mark on the plate.
Examples are: stiffener or bracket locations, or an icon to show the part orientation in the unit.
• Text if you want to place the part name and any other text information on the part.
Inside Toolpath
Outside Toolpath
Part Piecemark
• The actual plate part consists of all the production geometry blocked together. The name of the block is
created by ShipConstructor and is used to link it to the SQL record.
Stiffener Parts
To simplify drafting, ShipConstructor creates automatically a UCS in the plane of the frame. To the user it appears
that he is working in 2D. In reality, all parts on the frame are drawn in 3D.
Part U12F107-P01 is stiffened by several flat bars. In order to see the flat bars we have to set a 3D view point.
1. Click the Select View and select a viewpoint FROM FWD STBD UP.
2. Activate the solid layer.
3. Zoom into the lower right part of the frame and SHADE it.
Faceplate Parts
Faceplate parts are made from flat bar stock. They are commonly used inside of through holes, such as manholes, or
on a free side of a plate part to stiffen that edge.
1. To see a faceplate on this frame click the Select View button. In the viewpoint fields on the top of the
dialog enter X=1 Y=-25 Z=1.
2. Zoom to the upper portion of the frame as shown in the next figure.
3. SHADE the view.
Virtual Reality
There are several inexpensive 3D virtual reality programs on the market now to view solid drawings and generate a
fly through. These are very valuable tools to check the use of the right material (color-coded by ShipConstructor),
parts that do not match up in 3D, access to tight spaces, or to find any detailing mistakes that might have been
overlooked.
You can also use 3D animation tools such as 3D Studio Viz or Max to create digital assembly movies.
3. Click New.
4. In the New Export Drawing dialog select the drawings that you want to include in the export drawing. All
drawings with a check mark will be included in the export drawing.
5. Click OK.
6. In the New Drawing dialog enter a drawing name.
7. Click OK.
Overview
The tutorial consists of several sections. It will take several hours to complete the part detailing section. However, it
is not necessary to complete it in order to continue with later sections. You can simply choose to read it through and
continue with any of the next sections.
Within this section you will create several parts. In some cases we have prepared the geometry and all you must do
is the actual part definition. In other cases you will detail the parts from scratch. In particular, you will define frames
112 and 113 from scratch.
Let us now discuss the general design of this demo unit. Several aspects of the design of this unit were chosen
purely for teaching purposes. We wanted to ensure that we did not miss any important features you might use during
your daily work. On the other hand, we wanted to keep it simple enough to fit the purpose of a demo.
Longitudinal Members
Center Girder - Along the center of the unit runs a longitudinal girder that penetrates all frames, except bulkhead
106 at the aft of the unit. The thickness of the plate is on both sides of the vessel.
Margin Plate - Near the bilge area is another longitudinal girder called the margin plate. It also penetrates all
frames, except F106. The margin plate is oriented approximately vertical to the shell plating in body view. The half-
breadth of the margin plate changes at each frame; it is double skewed.
Tanktop - The tanktop plate is horizontal. It is limited on both sides by the margin plate.
Main Deck - The main deck is horizontal and flat.
Horizontal Girder - At approximately half height runs a flanged girder plate. It contains cutouts where the frame
or stiffener profiles penetrate.
Stiffener Flyout
These buttons are used for creating and editing stiffeners and editing and placing down their corresponding cutouts.
Their functionality will be discussed later in the tutorial.
Faceplate Flyout
These buttons are used for creating and editing faceplates. Their functionality will be discussed later in the tutorial.
Detailing Flyout
These buttons are used mainly during the detailing phase. We will discuss their use later in the tutorial.
Edit Part
Reactivate Part
Deactivate Part
Undefine Part
Define Part
Layer Flyout
These buttons are used to shift geometry to all the different ShipConstructor layers and to toggle layers on and off.
Overview
In the first part of the tutorial we will detail frames F112 and F113 as shown in the next figure. All parts in the frame
are symmetrical. We will detail the port side and later create the starboard part by mirroring.
Double Bottom Panel - Each frame has a double bottom panel. This panel consists of a plate part with stiffener
cutouts and two manholes. The panel is bordered below by the shell plating, at the center by the longitudinal center
girder, on top by the tanktop, and to the right by the margin plate. It is stiffened by several flat bars that lap onto the
longitudinal stiffeners running longitudinally on the shell plating and the tanktop plate.
Faceplate
Side profile
Flanged Margin Bracket - This is a flanged plate part with a lightening hole. It is welded to the longitudinal
margin plate and lapped with the side profile.
Side Profile - The profile is made from a 240x12 bulb flat that is shaped to fit the hull surface. Both ends are
treated with lapped endcuts.
Deck Girder Panel - This is a plate part with cutouts for the longitudinal stiffeners on the underside of the deck
plating. It is stiffened by a faceplate on the underside. The plate part ties into the center girder and is lapped with the
side profile.
4. Click Production Layers to ensure that you are working on the production layer.
At present, the frame consists only of the hull trace. In the lower section, cutouts have been inserted into the hull
trace. The frame was imported from ShipCAM in this form, and is based on sections cut through a 3D surface
model. ShipCAM can automatically insert cutouts into frames.
1. Select the toolbar flyout as shown in the figure and click the Mark Group Intersections button.
2. The Mark Group Intersections dialog is displayed. Enter the values as shown.
• Available Planar Groups - The list on the left of the dialog shows all planar groups that intersect the frame.
You can select the groups that you want to mark. By default all planar groups are selected.
• Throw Symbols - Check this option to create a throw symbol as shown in the figure below. The symbol
indicates the throw direction from the marking lines. The small vertical lines on the side of the symbol indicate
the thickness of the intersecting group. This value is corrected for the intersection angle in case of a skewed
(non-perpendicular) intersection. The Size box allows you to set the height to the top of the symbol.
Throw Symbol
Marking Line
• Throw Lines - Checking this option creates a thickness throw line as shown in the next figure.
Thickness Line
• Group Text - Checking this option creates text, to label the line with the name of the group. The Size box is
the size of the text that will be created. You also have the option to Strip Unit Prefix.
3. Once all values are entered in the dialog as shown, click OK. The markings are created as shown in the next
figure. All lines are 10% longer than the current extents of the drawing. You will need to trim the lines later to
their appropriate sizes using standard AutoCAD trimming.
Scallops
Note: Before we start the scallop command, please make sure that AutoCAD has the same OSNAP options as
shown in the next dialog. During many of our training sessions, we have noticed that users have disabled some of
the new features in AutoCad2000. This is mostly an attempt by the user to make AutoCad2000 act the same as R12.
ShipConstructor relies heavily on new AutoCad2000 features.
1. From the AutoCAD menu, select Tools / Options. In the dialog click the Drafting tab. Make sure that all
check boxes in the AutoSnap section are checked as shown.
Scallop Scallop
Scallop Scallop
Scallops, mouse holes or rat holes are often used in the detailing process. ShipConstructor provides a function to
draw these quickly and conveniently. The standard scallop size we will use is 30mm. This part requires four scallops
as indicated in the figure above.
1. Zoom to the lower left area of the current drawing as shown, where the frame trace meets centerline. We need
two 30mm scallops where the frame part meets the center girder.
Scallop required
Tanktop Marking
Scallop required
5. The default setting is to select the center of the scallop. Press ENTER to select the Select Center option.
ShipConstructor automatically changes the OSNAP to INTERSECTION and END.
Pick corner to scallop:
6. Click the intersection between the hull frame trace and the port side longitudinal girder marking line.
Pick direction of scallop:
7. In this case, the desired direction is to the top-right, so click anywhere above and to the right of the
intersection.
8. The scallop is drawn as shown in the next figure.
14. Create two scallops at the intersections of the frame hull trace with the margin plate and the tanktop with the
margin plate.
15. To clean up, erase the trimmed portions of the margin plate marking line. Be sure to leave the thickness
line of the margin plate alone.
16. The result should look like the following figure.
2. Select Libraries / Stock button to display the Stock Library dialog, then select Angles in the tree control on
the left.
3. In the list of Angles on the right highlight the stock BF160X09 and observe the data for it.
Cutouts
We will now insert outlines of the profiles and the related cutouts.
1. Select SC Structure / Detailing / Insert Stiffener Cutouts From Group or click , found on the
detailing fly out. The next dialog is shown.
3. ShipConstructor automatically inserts the cutouts and trims them to the line representing tanktop under side.
4. Zoom your view so that you can see the lower part of the frame. Your drawing should look like this:
4. In the dialog select only U12F113, as this is the only other frame that is not yet finished. A message will
inform you when the copying is finished. Ignore the To Other Units button.
5. We want to confirm now that the replicate command did the job correctly. Click Attach XREF.
8. The drawing should look like this. Frame 113 now contains the cutouts under the tanktop as does frame 112.
9. Click again and click Uncheck All to unselect the attached frame 113. Then click OK.
Toolpath
In order for ShipConstructor to be able create a toolpath, and NC-Pyros to create NC-Code, the outside of the part
has to be a closed 2D polyline (which AutoCAD calls a lightweight polyline, or simply a polyline). ShipConstructor
provides a command to test a toolpath.
1. In drawing U12F112 zoom to the lower portion of the frame. Ensure that the complete area of the structure
below the tanktop between the center girder and the margin plate is visible.
5. Press ENTER.
6. The dialog shows the result of the operation. In this case the toolpath has been generated from 22 entities. One
entity was invalid. The window selection included a text entity, which cannot be part of a toolpath. Click OK.
5. Now copy this manhole to create the second one. The distance between the two manholes is 1800mm.
6. The manholes are the same for frame 113. We will replicate the manholes from U12F112 to U12F113. Select
SC Structure / Detailing / Replicate Entities to Other Groups.
7. Select the two manholes.
8. In the dialog select F113 only and click OK.
1. Select ShipConstructor / Navigator or click . In the dialog click on the 3D tab and then click the
Open button to open the 3D Unit drawing of U12.
5. The unit drawing opens. You may see already that the Unit drawing has been updated automatically. You might
also have changed settings in the 3D Unit drawing. In order to stay synchronized with this tutorial, please
perform the following steps.
6. Click the Production Layers button to switch the production layer on. Also, select View / Shade 2D
structure. Click the Layer Visibility button. The Visibility dialog is displayed.
9. Set the visibility as shown in the dialog by clicking on the light bulbs. Click the All Off button. Then click ON
the light bulbs as shown. We only want to see frames F112 and F113.
10. Click the 3D View button and select different views to investigate your progress from different view
directions.
Plate Solids
It is now time to create your first plate solid. As you may know already, it is hard to visualize a 3D wire model. It is
much easier to view a drawing with solids, which enables hidden lines removal and even shading and rendering.
Also solids allow us to:
1. Select ShipConstructor / Navigator or click and open the group drawing U12F112.
2. Zoom to the outside toolpath of the floor with the manholes on which we have been working.
6. Make sure you select the PL10 stock and set the Plate Throw Dir to Aft. Click OK. The solid is created in the
color specified by the Manager database.
7. Click the Shade button to shade the frame drawing. It should look the same as in the next figure.
8. Type REGEN when finished to exit the shaded view.
ShipConstructor creates stiffeners, in this case made from the flat bar, by extruding the cross section along an
extrusion path. The extrusion path will be represented by a straight line from the lower profile to the upper profile.
1. Click the Production Layers button to switch the production layer on.
2. Make sure OSNAP END is on. It is easiest to pick the correct position if this is the only OSNAP on.
5. Draw a line from the upper outside point of the lower profile (see figure above) to the lower outside point of
the upper profile.
6. Repeat for all profiles. See figure below.
4. ShipConstructor switches from the production layer to the solid layer. Select the plate solid to which the
stiffeners attach. From the plate solid, ShipConstructor looks up the orientation, thickness and the throw
direction to calculate the prompts for the next dialog, such as stiffener throw direction port or starboard.
5. In the dialog select:
• Stock: FB100x12
• Attach to: Fwd Side
• Toe Direction: Port
• Endcuts: At Start and At End LAP075
• Trim Start & Trim End: None
• Lengthen Shorten Ends: Set this to 50 to achieve an overlap of 50mm of the vertical flat bars with the
longitudinal stiffeners.
8. Click to XREF.
9. In the dialog check the tanktop U12TTP drawing and click OK. The tanktop drawing is loaded.
11. Click the 3D View button and select view FROM FWD PORT DOWN.
12. Zoom to the plate part with the stiffeners.
13. Shade the drawing or use the 3D Orbit function. It should look similar to the figure:
1. In the U12F112 drawing, click the 3D View button and select the Plan tab.
2. Select the body view Body Forward to Aft. Click OK.
3. The 3D view changes to a Body Forward to Aft view. We will define our parts in this view.
4. Zoom to the inboard stiffener as shown.
8. The part properties dialog is displayed as shown. Most data is grayed as it cannot be changed. Only a few items
are user selectable. These are as follows:
12. A small pick indicator circle is placed by ShipConstructor at the position where you picked the solid. This
is useful when you have many parts close together, as you may not remember which one you picked.
13. The piecemark is displayed parallel to the stiffener. Select a position near the stiffener. You can now rotate the
piecemark by moving the cursor or just press ENTER to accept the vertical position. Choose that vertical
position as shown.
1. Click the Part List button. The part list dialog is displayed as shown.
2. The dialog lists all parts with all properties that are user selectable.
3. The dialog has a pop-up menu. Right-click on any part in the list. A menu pops up.
4. Select Properties from the menu. The Part Properties dialog, as used during part creation, is displayed.
You can now change any parameter that might have been wrongly assigned. Click OK or Cancel to close the
dialog.
5. Close the Part List dialog by clicking on the X in the upper right corner of the dialog.
5. Select all vertical stiffener extrusion lines. Press ENTER to change their process colors to Marking.
6. Click the Thickness Throw Lines button, found on the detailing flyout.
7. Select the all stiffener lines.
8. In the Saved Throw Line Styles select STIFFENERS. Click OK.
10. Click to the outboard side of the outermost stiffener line to indicate an outboard throw direction. The stiffener
markings are created as shown in the next figure.
5. You can now adjust the final position. A good location is shown in the next figure.
Weld Shrinkage
ShipConstructor can now handle weld shrinkage. Weld shrinkage is the amount a material will shrink when items
such as stiffeners are welded onto the part. Weld shrinkage will differ depending on the type of material, parameters
of welding, start temperature of the part to weld (summer or winter) and more. The welding process has to be
repeated exactly to repeat the same weld shrinkage. Most time weld shrinkage is considered based on statistical test
data when using panel lines. In many cases companies perform test welds and obtain the shrinkage data or base the
values on accuracy control data from previous projects. A good starting point for large vessel steel construction is
1mm of shrinkage per one item of continuous weld. We will use this value in our part definition.
During nesting ShipConstructor will oversize the plate part in each direction of the weld shrinkage icon by the value
given. In this case, 6mm in the horizontal axis and 0mm in the vertical axis. The icon can be rotated in any direction
to accommodate weld shrinkage depending on the direction of the welding.
3. You can erase the thickness throw icon above the part (see figures)
4. Move the TTOP, the LBHC, and the MRGN text inside of the part as shown. Reduce the text size to 50mm if
not done so already.
10. Set the Piecemark Size to 50. We want to emphasize the plate part piecemark over the stiffener piecemarks,
which are 25mm.
12. Zoom closely into one of the stiffener piecemarks. You will see that the piecemark text is displayed twice.
One is offset a little from the other, and the colors are different. Remember that parts are AutoCAD blocks. We
set up ShipConstructor to include the text of all attached stiffeners into the plate part. To achieve this, the text
has to be duplicated, as we need it once for the actual stiffener part, and once inside the plate part
block for nesting.
13. Save the drawing.
Practice: Check the progress so far in the unit drawing. Please follow the steps earlier in this chapter on opening
the unit drawing, changing the visibility of individual groups and shading the unit drawing. The result should look
like the figure below.
3. Set the process color of the text and the line to Marking. You will get an error message if you do not assign
specific colors.
Many of the commands used in this part have been used before. We hope that you remember them from the previous
sections. Whenever we use a command used in the previous section, then we will describe its use in an abbreviated
form.
1. In U12F112.DWG, Insert cutouts for the stiffeners running under the main deck. Refer to the previous
sections when we inserted the stiffeners for the tanktop.
2. Trim the deck line to the cutouts.
3. Draw a horizontal line 500mm below the main deck.
4. Zoom to the outside portion of the deck beam as shown.
5. A short portion of the outside hull trace of the frame is needed for the deck girder, but it is also needed for the
profile that makes up the side of the frame. We will make a copy of it onto the revision layer for later. Thus
we can trim it up for our use now and use the copy later on.
10. Now finish the portion of the plate that ties into the center girder. Remember to use the port side marking of the
center girder. Use the Mark Group Intersections function to draw the lines of the center girder on the
frame again.
11. Create a toolpath for the outside of this plate part now.
12. Create a plate solid for the part using 10mm stock, thickness throw aft.
In some cases it is very helpful to see the crossing structure from other group drawings. In our case we will load the
longitudinal girder U12LBHC into the frame drawing U12F112. We need to find where the faceplates of the center
girder and the frame tie into each other. We could calculate the location, but errors are easily made.
2. Click .
3. In the dialog check U12LBHC and click OK.
9. Click .
14. Trim the vertical line to the lower edge of the plate part if required.
15. ID one of the end points on the marking line. It should have an X coordinate of 75mm.
2. Click the Activate Layer button and select REV to activate the revision layer.
3. Click the Copy Geometry to Layer button and make a copy of the outside hull trace to the production
PRD layer.
9. Erase all helping lines except for the vertical line marking the end of the faceplate. This is the outside
endpoint of the faceplate.
5. Click on the plate solid of the girder. ShipConstructor looks up the stock, throw direction and thickness, in
order to be able to calculate the faceplate position.
6. Set the parameters in the next dialog as shown in the figure. These are the options:
• Stock Name: Stock to be used. We use FB150X20. The dialog lists all the particulars of the flat bar stock.
• Endcuts: Used to define both the start and end endcuts of the faceplate.
• Plate Data: The particulars of the plate stock of the girder to which the faceplate will be attached.
• Path: Closed or open. We will make an open faceplate. Closed faceplates are normally used for manholes.
• Make start and end symbols: If checked, ShipConstructor will create symbols to mark the start and the
end of the faceplate on the plate stock. You can NC mark these to enhance assembly accuracy.
• Lengthen Shorten: Allows you to make the faceplate longer or shorter than the actually selected
segment length.
• Position: There are several predefined positions of the faceplate, plus an option for a user defined
position.
7. Click OK when the settings are done.
Select the start point of the faceplate:
8. Click the start point on the marking line that we drew near the center girder.
Select the end point of the faceplate:
9. Click the end point on the marking line that we drew near the outside.
Select segment for faceplate:
10. ShipConstructor has now divided the outside toolpath of the deck girder web plate into two segments: pick the
segment (OSNAP NEAR is on) for which we want to make the faceplate.
11. Pick anywhere below the girder to indicate on which side of the line the faceplate has to be made.
12. ShipConstructor creates the faceplate and the start and end symbols.
13. Set the viewpoint to FROM FWD STBD UP.
14. Zoom to the inboard portion of the deck girder and shade it.
Start Symbol
15. Zoom to the outboard portion of the deck girder and shade it.
End Symbol
Practice: Place a part orientation icon in the left portion of the girder part.
Practice: Define the deck girder part. For the piecemark use the extension P03, as this will be the third plate
part. P02 will be the flanged margin bracket. Make sure you select all entities for this part that are inside the girder
toolpath.
Double bottom
Margin bracket
Thickness UCS
Construction UCS
Construction UCS opening
Skewed longitudinal
ShipConstructor creates two UCSs in every group drawing: the construction and the thickness UCS.
The construction UCS is at the plane where the planar group is defined; for a frame it is the longitudinal location.
4. Click the Mark Group Intersections button. A warning will be displayed. Click OK.
5. In the next dialog check only Throw Lines and click OK.
6. The command creates two marking lines: one for the inside and one for the outside of the margin plate.
7. Click the Activate UCS button and activate the construction UCS U12F112_C.
8. Click the 3D to 2D button and click on the two newly created marking lines. The marking lines were
created on the thickness throw UCS and therefore had a Z value of -10 relative to the construction UCS. We
would not be able to use them for a toolpath.
9. Zoom closely into the lower right scallop of the double bottom part as shown.
Dist. 1.9951
Inside on construction UCS
10. You can measure the extra gap width required by obtaining the distance perpendicular from one corner of
the double bottom panel scallop outside marking line. It is 17.2907.
11. Erase all inside marking lines except the one most port.
11. There is an AutoCAD trimming problem. In many cases AutoCAD trims only the segment of the polyline that
you picked. In this case there is a problem at the top right corner of the margin bracket.
12. Click on the Create End Circles button.
13. Select Outside Cut for the Process Color. Click OK.
14. ShipConstructor creates circles of the specified diameter around the two open ends of the polyline.
15. To fix the problem you need to trim the small portion.
16. Create a toolpath again. This time it should work.
5. Click on the segment of the margin bracket outside toolpath that will be flanged. It is the straight line
segment running under an angle of about 45 degrees. See figure.
Select the direction of the flange:
6. Click to the above inboard side of the flange line segment, to indicate the direction of the expanded flange.
The function activates the solid layer.
Select plate solid:
7. Click on the plate solid for the margin plate. The next dialogs control the appearance of the flange.
8. Manager has several prepared flanges. You can also set up your own. We are using a flange called
FLG100S45, a 100mm flange with 45-degree snipes on both ends and no relief radii. Click OK when
done.
10. The Flange Direction dialog controls the appearance of the solid flange. Set the direction to Aft. This will
create a solid of the flange toward the aft direction. Click OK.
11. Set a viewpoint of 1, -2, 1 and zoom into the flanged part.
12. Shade the drawing. The result should look like this:
16. You will see a small gap between the flange snipe and the scallop. This results from the correction for the fold
line due to expected stretching of the web during expansion. You can select a method that best fits your needs
to close this gap. We recommend that you stretch the endpoint of the flange snipe line and snap to the end of the
arc.
17. Zoom to the outside area of the flange and correct the gap in a similar fashion.
18. The resulting drawing is shown in the next figure.
Note: The flange consists of several marking segments. Each segment and the caret symbols are displayed in a
dashed line style. You might have to change the LTSCALE for example to 30 to be able to see this. The text
FLG UP 90 is also dashed, but a dashed line style is not visible for text. Dashed indicates to ShipConstructor that the
marking is on the far side of the plate part. ShipConstructor will later automatically set the MARK FARSIDE flag
for the part. This will result in the part being nested to be mirrored, as if looking from the aft side. Thus the flange
information will be visible to the person at the flange press.
2. Define the part for the margin bracket in the usual way. There will be a warning regarding the marking
lines. The flange line, and carets are dashed, while the part orientation icon is for mark near side (continuous).
Practice: Create a margin bracket the same way for frame 113.
Frame Profile
The outside frame is made up of a BF240X12 curved profile. The profile cross section is defined as a stock in
Manager. We need to prepare the extrusion path. It has to be the exact length and shape of the outside of the profile
in body view. We made a copy of the outside hull trace to the revision _REV layer earlier. We will now retrieve it to
make the extrusion path.
The stiffener has an overlap of 250mm with the deck girder and the margin bracket. We have to trim the hull trace to
these positions to make the exact extrusion path.
Tip: Draw the trim lines, and then hide the deck girder and margin bracket. Unhide them after trimming. Do this by
selecting SC Structure / Hide and then selecting the parts to hide them. Select SC Structure / Unhide All to
bring them back.
6. Set a 3D View FROM FWD STBD UP and zoom to the upper end of the extrusion path.
12. Activate the production layer and delete the polyline that was used for the frame profile generation and the two
trim lines. Clean up the drawing often.
13. Set a view point as shown in the figure above and shade the drawing to confirm the correctness of our work.
Shade the drawing. It should look like the above figure.
14. REGEN the drawing.
2. Click OK.
Note: If you have any solids listed, then you most likely forgot to create parts for them or an aborted command left
one around. Decide if such a solid should be converted to a part or if it should be erased by investigating the solid
and production layers.
Important: Do not use the AutoCAD MIRROR function, as it will not work correctly on ShipConstructor parts!
5. The Mirror Part dialog is displayed. Plate parts usually contain a part orientation icon. The icon can make use
of two text indicators such as PORT and OUTBOARD or STARBOARD and OUTBOARD. These words are
user customizable. You can instruct ShipConstructor to replace these words automatically when mirroring parts.
In our case we want to replace PORT with STBD.
6. Check the Apply to All option, so you will not be prompted for each part. Click OK.
7. The parts will be mirrored to the starboard side. All mirrored parts have been assigned new names
automatically. Manager is updated as well with the new parts. The word PORT will be replaced with STBD in
the starboard versions of the parts.
Practice: Using what you have learned, create the stiffeners and the plate part on F113. Some of the geometry has
already been copied, so it should go a little faster.
Faceplates
The longitudinal girder drawing U12LBHC is almost finished. You just have to complete the double bottom girder.
All the geometry for the plate part itself is finished too, but the lightening holes have to be enforced with faceplates.
We will practice two new procedures in this drawing:
• Creating faceplates that form closed rings.
• Copying a defined part to many new locations.
3. Zoom to the lightening hole in the bottom girder panel farthest to the left.
18. Use a piecemark text size of 25mm. Place the piecemark vertically on the plate at the forward vertical segment
of the lightening hole.
Important: When copying parts, always select only the piecemark - do not select the solid, as it will be
copied automatically by ShipConstructor. For stiffeners and faceplate the only entity on the production layer
is the piecemark. For plate parts any production entity, such as toolpath, marking holes may also be picked to
identify the part(s) to copy. It is a good idea to activate the production layer before copying parts to avoid picking
any solids in error.
1. Zoom out somewhat to see about 3 or 4 lightening holes. If you have a high-resolution display, you can
probably zoom to see all the lightening holes.
2. Activate the production layer.
3. Set OSNAP to END only.
4. Start the COPY command normally, and select the piecemark of the faceplate to copy and the direction
symbol.
5. Use the Multiple option of the COPY command to make all the copies at once.
6. Snap to any endpoint on the lightning-hole toolpath, for example the top left arc endpoint.
7. For the new position select the appropriate points on the other lightning-holes
Tip: Use the scroll bars or the mouse center button PAN to proceed to the other lightening holes when
picking the Second point of displacement.
Note: ShipConstructor knows when a part has identical copies. When you change one of the parts, ShipConstructor
will ask you:
• If you want to change all other parts in the same manner, in which case all piecemarks remain the same,
and all part are automatically updated.
• If only this one part is to be changed, in which case this part receives a new name and piecemark.
Practice: Define the double bottom girder plate part. Use a piecemark text size of 50mm.
Practice: Run a check on the group drawing. There should be no unused geometry left.
Overview
ShipConstructor allows you to define standards such as brackets. You can then use the standard in any group
drawing. We will use a pre-defined standard bracket on the aft bulkhead.
Note: In the 98 version the piecemarks for standard part were created in a specific way: by including $$$ at the end
of the part name. This was used to create individually name parts for each use of the standard part. The 99 and 2000
versions of ShipConstructor now handle identical and standard parts such that identical names are allowed.
ShipConstructor keeps the links to the unique database records internally.
There are already several brackets along the top edge of the bulkhead. The outboard brackets are already in place.
However, three inboard brackets are missing.
5. The function sets OSNAP END and NEAR. Click on the upper end of the first vertical stiffener marking
inboard of the most inboard bracket (see figure below).
Select point on axis.
6. The function sets OSNAP NEAR. Pick any other point on the same vertical marking line.
Locate third point in plane or ENTER for perpendicular to UCS:
7. Press ENTER to create a UCS perpendicular to bulkhead 106. The out of plane UCS is created as
indicated by the UCS icon. We can now use it to insert the standard bracket.
3. In the dialog check U12MDCK to insert the main deck. Click OK.
4. Activate both the production and solid layers. You will see the stiffener solids.
5. Zoom in closely to the stiffener ends in the plane of the current UCS.
6. Draw a horizontal line from the aft lower end of the deck stiffener towards forward. Make sure that
ORTHO is on.
7. Draw a vertical line from the top forward end of the vertical stiffener up.
8. Activate the production layer only.
9. Offset the horizontal line 50mm up and the vertical line 50mm aft. Extend these lines until they intersect.
The intersection of these two lines is the insertion point of the bracket.
10. Draw a line from the intersection of the two offset lines diagonally (ORTHO off) up and aft.
11. Erase the previously drawn lines, except for the diagonal line.
12. Activate the production and solid layers. Compare what you have drawn to the next figure.
Bracket insertion
point
13. Click . Select Uncheck All to unload the previously inserted main deck drawing.
14. In the dialog click Uncheck All and then click OK.
4. For the insertion location, choose the lower right end point of the diagonal help line.
5. The command now allows you to rotate the bracket. Make sure ORTHO is on. Rotate the bracket as shown in
the figure.
7. In the dialog, set Throw direction to Port. Click OK. The stiffeners throw towards the starboard side.
8. The part properties dialog is displayed exactly the same as when defining a part earlier in this chapter. Only
the part name is not changeable. Assign the bracket to Assembly Demo-U12-B106. Click OK.
1. Click .
7. Click .
8. Click Uncheck All, then click OK.
Overview
We have now defined all parts and can prepare the unit for:
• Nesting
• Assembly drawings
It is good practice to check the unit before proceeding to the next steps. The checking includes:
• Check the unit drawing
• Check all group drawings
• Check for interferences
6. Click OK to start. This command opens each planar group drawing individually, so it may take a while.
8. Close Notepad.
9. The Unused Geometry list should be empty. If not investigate what needs to be fixed. Unused geometry is
anything that is not a part or a solid that is not assigned to a part.
Overview
The interference checking function detects all collisions of parts. You can also import solids from other programs,
such as Pipe, cabling or Outfit software, and check the interferences.
Common mistakes are:
• Forgetting that another group part is passing through a part, such as a longitudinal girder passing through
frames.
• Incorrect throw direction for connecting brackets on stiffeners.
• Skewed intersections such as the margin plate through the frames. Forgetting to consider wider gap due to the
skewed intersection angle.
2. Select ShipConstructor / Navigator and choose the Interference tab and press the New button.
3. In the dialog select the group drawings and any other drawing (Pipe, Outfit) that you want to include in the
interference check.
Note: ShipConstructor cannot detect interference with shell plating, as AutoCAD does not currently provide
interference checking between solids and surfaces. Shell plating is represented as a surface.
3. New! - In the bottom right of the dialog you find the interference checking options. Select Struct-Struct to just
check structural interference at this time.
4. Click the Run Check button.
5. First the function first runs a quick pre-check to find any pair of solids that might intersect to reduce the time of
the interference calculations. ShipConstructor informs you how many possible interferences it has detected. A
Minimum Interference Volume lets you filter out very small interferences that might be due to computer
rounding errors, or that are so small that they would not be noticed during construction. The default Minimum
Interference Volume value is stored in Manager. Click OK to confirm.
10. The solutions and detail information can be exported to a text file and be printed by pressing the Report button,
which displays a dialog asking the user to enter a name of the resulting text file and what information to display.
11. Notepad file - This form is good for printing. It allows you to check through all drawings and fix your errors.
Practice: Correct any problems you might find. Create a new interference drawing. Check for any remaining
interferences.
Overview
Nesting is the process of arranging parts on stock plates or remnants in preparation for NC-processing and NC-
cutting. ShipConstructor provides several functions that allow quick and accurate manual placement of parts on the
plate, with automatic spacing between parts and to the plate edge. You can also use and automatic nesting option to
speed up the nesting process.
Nesting parts for shipbuilding is a complex procedure. Many factors have to be considered when nesting a specific
part on a specific stock plate. An experienced person can only make certain decisions. Often decisions depend on the
current state of the production progress. Here are a few points to consider when nesting:
Nesting Toolbar
The nesting toolbar provides access to the most commonly used nesting functions. We will discuss the use of each of
them in this chapter.
Insert Parts
Slide
Align
Move & Rotate
Assign to Nest
Nest Layers
Bridging
Nesting Preparation
ShipConstructor uses many settings that are stored in Manager. These settings are the same for several users working
on the same project. ShipConstructor loads these settings every time they are required from the central Manager
database.
• Nest Name Prefix - The prefix that ShipConstructor will generate automatically for creating nest names.
• Drawing Name - Uses the name of the nest drawing plus a running number for the rest of the nest
name. Example: PL10-001.
• Unit Name - Uses the unit name as the base of the nest drawing name with an extension after that.
• Custom - Lets you define the nest drawing name.
4. Close the Settings dialog.
4. Select the PL10 plate stock and click the Edit button.
5. The Edit Stock dialog lets you set up and change the plate stock data including the data relevant to nesting and
NC-cutting.
All settings are per stock. This enables different settings for each stock type. For example, you can set a different
cutting machine for each material. All steel up to a certain thickness might be cut with a plasma burner, above that
thickness all steel is to be cut with another Oxy-fuel cutter, while all aluminum and non-metal material is to be cut
with a high speed router. The settings are:
• Pierce Time - Time it takes to pierce a hole. This is used by NC-Pyros to estimate actual processing time.
• Cut Feed - The feed rate for cutting. Either in mm/min or inches/min.
• Bridge Width - Size of bridges. ShipConstructor can bridge parts to keep them together, to minimize piercing,
and avoid the loss of small parts into the cutting bed.
• Part Gap - Distance that ShipConstructor will leave between any two parts.
• Plate Margin - Distance that ShipConstructor will leave between parts and the plate edge.
• NC-Machine - The NC-cutting machine to use. NC-Pyros, our NC-cutting software stores all settings for each
machine in Manager under that same name. This ensures that NC-Pyros will automatically generate the code for
the correct machine.
• Length & Width - This lists the plate size available for this particular stock.
Note: Mark Feed and Fast Feed are independent of the plate properties and are set up for the machine in the NC-
Machine library.
Nesting Terminology
Nest Drawing
A nest drawing contains one or more nests of the same stock, but each nest may use a different plate size or
remnant. Many companies decide to use the stock name as the drawing name. Often the unit to which most or all of
the parts on the nest belong is integrated as well into the drawing name. For example: U12PL10.DWG contains parts
for U12 on PL10 stock plate.
Nests
Each nest drawing can have one or more nests. New nests are always based on a nest template. The nest consists
of the actual nest plate, automatically generated BOM, and header fields with automatically updated pertinent
information, such as plate size, material, utilization, cutting time estimate and more.
Nest Templates
The first figure in the chapter shows a finished nest drawing. The border of the nest, the text and the BOM are all
created automatically by ShipConstructor. In order to accomplish this task a template is used for the nest when it
is initially created. The templates are regular AutoCAD drawings. ShipConstructor comes with a ready-made nest
template. You can customize the nest template to suit your needs. We will look at the supplied template now.
7. The nest template drawing is opened as shown. Compare the large figure at the beginning of this chapter.
Starting to Nest
3. Zoom to the lower left nest to see the nested parts a little closer.
4. Pan to the upper area of the same nest. Here you find all information about the nest, including who
processed it and when. You will also find utilization, weight, and an estimated time for processing.
5. ShipConstructor creates a default name for the new nest. It should be PL10-05.DWG. Leave the name as is.
6. At the bottom are the available nest templates with a preview. You can have several different templates.
7. The upper right of the dialog shows the Plate Stock used in this nest drawing. It cannot be changed.
8. From the drop down list you can select a different plate sizes as defined in Manager. In this case we have three
plate sizes available. Select the 12.000m x 3.000m plate size.
9. Click OK.
10. Select OSNAP END.
11. Attach the new nest to the lower right corner of the bottom right nest already in the drawing left of the current
stock plate. See figure.
2. Click the Insert Parts button. The Nesting Filter dialog is displayed.
3. The top right displays the stock properties used in this nest drawing. In this case we are using PL10 stock.
4. On the right side of the dialog are the controls for the filter function. Only parts that match the selected
options will be available for nesting. In this case we have the following settings:
• Same as stock plate - Only parts made from PL10 stock can be nested. Un-check this only if you want
to “cross-nest”. That is, you want to nest, for example, 8mm brackets onto 10mm stock.
• Not nested - If un-checked the filter will display also parts that are already nested for reference.
• Paint - If checked it allows you to select a paint option. For example, you might have some primed plate
and only want to nest parts on these that are to be cut from primed plate.
Note: The general procedures for inserting parts into a nest drawing are as follows:
10. Do not rotate any of the parts at this point. Place them approximately as shown in the figure.
Align Function
This function aligns one side of the part with the horizontal or vertical axis. In our case the parts are already
horizontal, but we need to rotate some of them by 180 degrees. You could do this using the regular rotate function.
However, the align function is handy if the edge that you want to align is on a slope.
You should have 4 slender deck beams in the lower left corner of nest 5.
Two of the beams have the square corner on the left while the two others have the sloping side on the left. We make
better use of the nest plate if the square corners are all on the left against the edge of the plate. See next figure.
2. Select the 2 parts that have the sloped edge on the left. The prompt displays:
3. Click anywhere on the edges of one part. OSNAP NEAREST and END are automatically on. The prompt
displays:
Select align direction point:
4. Click any other point on the same edge of the same part. The two points indicate the direction that we want
to align with the vertical or horizontal axis.
Rotate part:
5. Move the mouse until the parts are rotated 180 degrees.
6. Use the MOVE command and move both parts into the empty space in the lower left corner of the plate again,
such that they are approximately in the right position. See figure above.
Snap Function
The snap function allows simple part placement against the edge of the plate or another part. The function spaces the
part using the “Gap between parts” or “Plate edge margin” settings set in Manager.
We will use the snap function again to nest three of the slender parts in the lower left area of the nest plate.
2. Select lower deck beam part. Press ENTER to finish selecting part. You could also use this function to SNAP
several parts at once.
Snap point:
3. At this point ShipConstructor activates OSNAP CENTER, INTERSECTION, and END. Move the mouse
over the lower left scallop of the part. Make sure the CENTER snap tip is on (indicated by a circle). If you
have problems, click the CENTER OSNAP button to force a CENTER snap only. Click to select the center of
the scallop. The prompt displays:
Snap to:
4. Select the lower left corner of the plate. The part snaps to the plate corner.
Click direction:
5. The function expects you to pick in the approximate direction to which you want to offset the part from the snap
point. In our case we want to move it by the value to the right and up. The function will snap to the closest 45
degrees direction that you pick. Click approximately 45 degrees to the right and up.
6. The part moves by the value set in Manager to the right and up. This keeps the part the perfect distance from the
plate edge. See figure.
We will now snap the double bottom part that is near the upper left plate corner.
1. Zoom to the upper left corner of the nest plate.
The slide function allows you to slide one part along the plate edge or any number of other parts. On the part to slide
you have to select two points. The first point is the slide point the second point indicates a tangent direction.
The tangent direction will be aligned with the outside of the other part or the plate edge. A ghost image is displayed
around the sliding part to indicate the gap.
Tangent point
Part to slide
along
Part to slide
We want to slide the margin bracket shown in the figure into the gap between the two parts shown. The upper edge
will be sliding along the upper part.
1. Move one margin bracket into a position similar to the one shown in the figure above.
4. Select as the slide point a point on the upper edge of the margin bracket. OSNAP END and NEAR are on.
Select tangent point:
5. Select a tangent point to the right on the same upper edge of the margin bracket.
Select part(s) to slide along:
9. Press function key F6, if the part is on the wrong side of the part to slide along. (Sliding inside the other part
instead of along the outside) This will toggle the side the part is on. Next figure.
Practice: Nest one other margin bracket at the top of the nest plate using the slide function as shown in the figure.
5. You can use the F5 & F6 function keys to rotate the part. Each press of the function key rotates the part by
the angle indicated in brackets ‘<5>’ on the command line. Use the ‘+’ plus and ‘-’ minus keys to increase
or decrease the increments.
6. Obtain a position similar to the one shown in the next figure.
Practice: Nest the last margin bracket in the space in the lower center of the nest. When finished the completed nest
should look like in the figure below.
Practice: Notice that one deck beam part remains un-nested. There is space for it in the lower left corner of the
upper left nest PL10-02 for this part. Use the snap function to nest this part.
Practice: Three small brackets remain un-nested. You can nest them on the lower left nest called ‘PL10-01’ with all
the other small brackets.
2. Click the Insert Parts button. The Nesting Filter dialog is displayed. Configure the dialog as is done
for Inserting Parts (ShipConstructor) except this time choose the AutoNest option.
3. Click OK.
4. Next ShipConstructor wants to know how many of which type of plate to use and what priority to give each
size. For the purpose of this tutorial will use 12000x3000 mm size stock, and we will supply 4 to AutoNest.
AutoNest will use the minimum number of plates that it can but we will supply more than it needs so it doesn’t
run out. Click OK to continue.
5. Once the AutoNest progress bar has finished processing the New Stock Plate dialog comes up allowing you
to choose the template to be used for new Nests. Click OK.
7. As you can see above AutoNest has nested the parts, your results may vary depending on the number and size of
your parts and the size of the stock plates onto which they are nested. If you wish to tweak the part placement
and position you can use all the ShipConstructor nesting tools mentioned in the previous section.
2. Using the window or crossing selection to select the nest plate and all parts for that nest. It does not matter
if you pick any other entities. ShipConstructor will only consider parts and nest plates.
3. The color of all parts changes.
4. Repeat the same for the nest plate onto which we nested the remaining slender deck beam part and the small
brackets.
Important: Always run a nest check before issuing a nest for NC-processing. The check function checks for
many errors and reports them to a log file. The BOMs are updated automatically at the same time.
7. Zoom to nest PL10-01 In the lower left of the drawing. Zoom to the top of this nest. We will now investigate in
detail the contents of the nest header.
9. The new BOM now shows the standard parts at the end of the list. The quantity for each standard is shown in
brackets.
5. This dialog lists each pair of problem parts and the type of problem or status. There are five different Status
levels the two parts can have.
• Hard - The boundaries of these two parts actually intersect.
• Soft - These two parts don’t intersect but they are closer together than the desired Plate Gap set for this
plate stock in Manager.
• Inside - One of these parts is completely inside of the other part.
• Fixed - The detected problem has been fixed.
• Ignored - User specifies that they want to ignore this problem.
6. There are several functions available by right clicking a selected overlap.
• Zoom to Part - Zooms to the part currently under the cursor.
• Zoom to Collision - Zooms to the collision of the two parts.
• Check Collision - Checks the currently selected collision to see if the problems have been fixed. Note: if
you have moved these parts around it may detect new problems with other parts, they will then be added to
the bottom of the list.
• Ignore - Tells ShipConstructor that you wish to ignore this problem.
7. Additionally, when you select a collision in the list box it will highlight the two parts involved and draw circles
around the intersection points of the collision to better illustrate the problem.
Second you can run a check on all nests. This will do two things - it will report any errors and update all BOMs, and
it will list all un-nested parts.
1. Select SC Nesting / Check Nests and BOM. In the dialog check All nests in all drawings and list
parts not nested.
2. The function opens all nest drawings and checks all parts. Any parts that might have changed since nesting
will be reported. In our case we did not nest one part defined for the central girder. The log file gives exact
information on all nests.
Plotting Nests
Nests are usually plotted individually on small sheets, such as 11x17 or A3 paper, and then combined with other
drawings in a work package. In order for this function to work automatically, you have to set the printer you want to
plot to as the default printer. Then set for this printer the desired default paper size and orientation. You should plot
one nest first using the regular AutoCAD plot function to check all settings. To plot nests follow the steps below.
1. With the Navigator open nest PL10.
2. Select SC Nesting / Nest / Plot.
3. In the dialog select the nests you want to plot. Alternatively you can also click the Pick Nests… button and
select the nests on screen. The picked nests will then be highlighted in the list.
4. Click OK to start plotting.
Note: In general two parts will only be connected by one bridge. However, there might be cases where two or more
bridges between two parts are required. This will create toolpaths of the outside of the parts which have to be treated
as if they were holes. ShipConstructor is smart enough to detect this and perform the required layer or color changes.
The nest figure shows two parts joined by two bridges. The resulting hole has been detected by ShipConstructor and
colored blue.
Inserting bridges
1. From the nesting toolbar select the “Golden Gate Bridge” icon .
The bridge would violate a condition. For example, this might happen if one end of the bridge is too close to a sharp
corner of one of the parts.
Exporting to NC-Pyros
The final step of nesting is the export to NC-Pyros for NC-Processing. NC-Pyros can not read AutoCAD drawings
directly, so the drawing file must be converted to a DXF file format. ShipConstructor provides a function to perform
this automatically. At the same time Manager is updated to log the export time.
1. Select SC Nesting / NC-Pyros Export. In the dialog highlight the plates you want to export. Click OK.
3. The program exports all nests with all parts inside the plate border to an individual drawing. The DWG files
are then converted to DXF files.
4. A log file displays the result of the process. See figure.
The nests can now be processed with NC-Pyros. See the NC-Pyros manual for details.
Remnant Control
Remnants are unused portions of a nest plate. In most cases you can use remnants later on in a project.
ShipConstructor allows you to create a nest from a full size nest plate or a remnant nest plate.
Creating a Remnant
1. Open nest drawing PL12.
3. Use ERASE and click anywhere on the remnant. You can only delete a remnant if it is not used for another nest
already. Remnants are stored in Manager for later use.
4. To create a new remnant we have to draw the border of it first. Draw a closed polyline for the remnant
outline. Make sure to use CLOSE for the last leg of the polyline (observe the thick polyline in the figure
below).
8. Select where the remnant edge meets the outside of the full plate.
Select remnant cut line start end:
9. Select the other point where the remnant edge meets the outside of the full plate.
Select cut line to use (Red/Blue):
10. Select the portion (blue or red) that will be the used to trim off the remnant from the plate.
11. The new remnant dialog requests the remnant name. A name for the mirrored remnant must be separately given
when the plate is a like/mirror cut. The two remnants may later be used for a like/mirror nest again or
individually for like nests only. Click OK.
13. Select the position and orientation for the remnant text.
14. The remnant is now hatched and Manager keeps track of it and makes it available when creating new nests
using the same stock.
Overview
It cannot be emphasized enough: assembly drawings are the key to accurate and fast assembly and to realize
substantial savings in production. Assembly drawings show all parts in 3D so there will be no misunderstanding on
how the parts fit together, or long investigation of several drawings to figure out how things work. Everything is
plain and simple.
Another important note - dimension the assembly drawings sparingly. Only dimensions for quality control should be
given, and these usually using a quality control matrix, which is a new feature in ShipConstructor.
The basic assembly drawings with BOMs are created automatically by ShipConstructor. The look and layout of
the assembly drawings is controlled through user definable template drawings with multiple viewports and
keywords. The user simply has to annotate the drawings.
2 3
4. There are 3 viewports in the template, as indicated by the numbers in the figure. The large viewport is used
for the actual assembly, while viewports 2 and 3 are used for the keymap. The keymap shows where in the unit
this assembly is located. In the keymap, the unit will be displayed as a wire frame model, while the assembly
will be displayed as a solid model. Thus highlighting the assembly during plotting with the hidden lines
removed.
5. All keywords are displayed in a color other than white (black) in this template. Zoom to the text in the upper
center of the drawing. You find several keywords here. These will be automatically replaced by
ShipConstructor.
6. Pan to the right to find the keyword <BOM> for the Bill of Material. The columns in the BOM are controlled
by settings in Manager.
7. Pan down the right border of the template drawing. Here you find more keywords.
8. At the bottom right hand corner are the two small viewports for the keymap.
6. Click Close.
The BOM assigned in the previous step can be configured. We will now show how this can be done:
1. Select Bill of Materials / Edit BOM.
4. We wish to include all the drawings in the unit, click OK to continue and enter a name in the next dialog. This
function will take a minute or two, as the full Build Strategy Drawing is about 12 MB in size.
Note: While this dialog is active you can still access AutoCAD directly to issue commands using the command line,
the menus, or the toolbars. Be sure to click the AutoCAD window first before issuing a command. AutoCAD is
active when the window title bar is blue. The Build Strategy dialog is active when its window title bar is blue.
2. SHADE the drawing or use 3D Orbit in order to improve the visual appearance of the assemblies.
3. Click the light bulb off in front of the Demo. This turns all entities off.
4. Click the light bulb on in front of B106. This turns the parts for aft bulkhead on. See figure.
4. In the Build Strategy dialog drag the selected parts to assembly F111.
5. Switch the light bulb in front of F111 on and then off. It is now easily visible that parts are missing in assembly
F112.
6. In the Build Strategy dialog click off F112 and click on F111. See figure.
The process of creating a keymap is time consuming, as the program has to collect all plate parts from all drawings
and then extracts just the toolpaths from each part. Thus, you are required to create the keymap drawing before
running the assembly drawing creation. The keymap drawing is an external reference in each assembly drawing,
thus if the keymap changes it will be updated anytime you open an assembly drawing.
You can open the Keymap drawing using the Navigator Assembly tab and selecting Assembly / Keymap.
You can then make custom changes and they will be used in each assembly drawing automatically. For example, in
this case we have removed the outlines of the expanded shell plating, as they confuse the picture.
One drawing is automatically created for each assembly. Watch closely to see how the views are generated and the
keywords replaced.
We will now investigate one of the assembly drawings.
3. Select drawing DemoU12DBF111. Click Open. The drawing is opened as shown below.
7. Pan to the bottom to the keymap layers. The keymap will become clearer when the drawing is shaded or hidden
lines are removed.
Smart Labels
The annotation of assembly drawings has been improved. All annotations are now carried out using our newly
designed Smart Labels. Smart Labels simplify and speed up annotating assembly drawings tremendously. Smart
Labels also provide a function unique to ShipConstructor - they can be set to always “look” at you, even if you
change your view position.
The properties of the Smart Labels can be changed using the AutoCAD Property Manager. The properties
specific to our custom annotations are listed under the Label Properties section (see figure) in the AutoCAD
properties dialog. You can also change the bubble style using the properties and use grip points to change the
position and rotation of the annotation.
There are now two distinctly different ways to annotate the assembly drawings. You might know the first one from
the previous version of ShipConstructor; this one places the annotations in a specific UCS. For this type of
annotation you first set a UCS and then annotate the parts. The second type of annotation is new. This new type does
not require you to set up a UCS. The annotation will always be facing towards the viewer. You can even
dynamically rotate the drawing, while watching all annotations automatically rotating to face you at all times.
5. Then type OR for origin and press ENTER. This will move the UCS icon to the origin, if the origin is within
the visible area of the drawing. Since the world UCS is currently active, the UCS icon will remain in the lower
left corner, as the world origin is about 7200 mm aft of this frame. During the later stage though, the UCS origin
will be in the plane of this frame, and our changes will be more visible to us.
22. Click inside the plate parts as shown in the next figure.
23. With ORTHO ON, drag vertically up and click when at the desired position. See next figure.
Practice: Repeat the same steps for the port side part. ShipConstructor retains the same settings. Just click OK in
the dialog.
2. Click the Activate UCS button. In the dialog click Activate from Object.
3. Click on the left most flat bar, the one outboard on the starboard side.
4. In the dialog select the option as shown. For a stiffener you can choose one of four UCSs.
5. The UCS icon should appear as shown in the figure above. Since the Z-axis is pointing away from us, the text
of the annotation would be in mirror image. We have to flip the UCS in order to make the annotation readable
from our side.
6. Click the Flip UCS button to ensure the Z-axis is pointing towards us.
9. Click OK.
10. Select the lower edge point of the stiffener for the base point.
11. Drag the leader line downwards. You don’t need to worry about the length, as it will be set to 300mm.
Quick Annotation
Use the quick annotation function once you have set your parameters for the annotation. We will create the same
annotations for the next stiffeners until we come to the centerline using the quick annotation option.
Note: You do not have to create a new UCS for the other stiffeners. ShipConstructor will automatically use the
same UCS settings as set up for the first stiffener, and will shift the origin automatically to the plane of the other
picked part.
3. Click on the stiffener annotation that was created last near the center line.
Select base point:
6. Click on the lower corner of the stiffener. The annotation is created for this part with the same settings as the
one copied.
7. Continue selecting further stiffeners until all are annotated. See figure.
7. Click OK.
8. Create the annotation to your liking.
9. The annotation is created such that the text is facing you.
10. Set different viewpoints and observe that the annotation will always face you, not matter what view direction
you are setting.
11. Use the 3D Orbit to rotate the panel dynamically. Watch the annotation face you as you rotate the panel.
1. Click the Activate UCS button. In the dialog click Activate from Object.
2. Click on one of the two plate parts to create a UCS in the plane of the frame.
3. Select SC Assembly / Icons / CG Point. The function inserts an AutoCAD POINT at the CG position.
5. Pick the points you want to check. Pick points on one plate part to get the quality control matrix for that panel.
In our example, we inserted two matrices, one for the port and one for the starboard panel. The dimensions are
the same, but we wanted to have the opportunity to enter the actually built values into the drawing. For
We want to make annotations for each panel in the double bottom. Each annotation shall be in the plane of the
frame.
1. Zoom back to the main view port.
2. Switch to model space.
7. In the tree dialog click on panel F107. This changes the annotation text in the top left corner of the dialog.
Click OK.
8. Click to select a position on the frame and the positions for the leader lines. The result should look like in the
figure below.
9. Repeat for all other frames. The result should look like this.
Practice: Annotate the tanktop panel and the center girder panel in the same fashion. You might want to create
UCSs in the appropriate planes.
Note: In some cases the annotation text might appear in mirror writing. Use the Flip UCS button to change
the X-axis of the UCS. Create the annotation again to obtain a readable text.
5. Now pick the viewport or viewports for which you want to hide lines. Click on all three viewports.
6. PLOT the drawing now.
Overview
The stiffener plot functions handle the creation, manipulation and plotting of stiffener plots, simplifying this task
significantly. Many companies do not even consider generating these plots because the effort involved in generating
them. ShipConstructor makes it economical to provide fully detailed plots for each stiffener.
Stiffener plots are generated automatically by using the assembly structure of the vessel to group and select the
stiffeners. As usual, user configurable templates are used to simplify customization of the look and feel of the plots.
In fact, a two level template system plus additional options give you powerful control over the stiffener plots. There
is one template for the large plot sheet and sub templates for each stiffener. Each large sheet can contain several
smaller individual stiffener plots. Any number of large sheets can be within a single drawing. It is advisable to give
some thought to how you want to organize your stiffener plots.
For example, you could have one drawing for each major assembly. Within the drawing you create the plots for all
stiffeners in that assembly. You can then group the stiffener types in rows of plots and sheets within the drawing.
10. Select the Primary Units tab. In the dialog, select the settings as shown below.
1. Select SC Profile Plots / Insert Profile Plots. The following dialog is displayed.
3. Click the check box in front of MDK and un-check the box in front of DKP.
• Plot Template - The large template drawing is set up to hold the individual SubPlots. In our case one template
will hold two SubPlots. See figure. Customize this template to fit your needs.
• Bend at Best Point - This will rotate the profile such that it will fit into a rectangle of minimum height.
Overview
New! - Manager (previously ShipReport) has been completely re-written. The user interface and many of the
functions have changed. Be sure to read this section even if you have used Manager before.
Important: Report supports two report layouts; one printing to large size paper (A3 or 11x17), and a second one
printing to small size paper (A4 or 8 ½ x 11). If your printer does not support the large report paper size, then the
report will be broken up to fit the smaller pages. Be sure to select a printer that supports the paper size you wish to
use through the Printer Control Panel of your operating system.
Manager stores all non-graphical data in Manager database. The database consists of over 100 tables, and more than
one thousand relationships between the tables, making this the most powerful database used in shipbuilding.
ShipConstructor features three general types of Reports:
• PWBS Reports (Product Work Breakdown Structure) - These reports are generated for a specific
Product Work Breakdown Structure (PWBS) such as a unit. It is further divided into five specific reports. These
are:
• Build Strategy Reports - This report displays the build strategy including all assembly levels and
individual parts. All properties are listed for each item.
• Profile Reports - For profile production. This report type lists only profiles in the selected PWBS item.
• Standard Parts Reports - List only the standard parts in the PWBS item.
• Pipe Stock Report - List all individual pipe stocks within the selected PWBS item.
• Pipe Penetration Reports - Lists all penetrations in the selected PWBS item.
• SWBS Reports (System Work Breakdown Structure) - These reports are generated for a specific
System Work Breakdown Structure (SWBS) such as the Fresh Water system. These are:
• Pipe Stock Reports - Lists all the pipe items used for specific system.
• Pipe Penetration - Lists all penetrations generated by the system.
PWBS Reports
All PWBS reports are accessed through the SWBS and PWBS dialog.
Reports can be created for any assembly in the ship or the complete ship. In general you will be creating reports for
a unit or smaller assembly. You then bundle the report with assembly drawings, nest plots, nest reports, and NC
tapes to a work order.
All calculations, such as those for weight and CG are performed on-the-fly during the report generation. You can be
sure that the output is up to date.
6. Click Preview.
7. The report displays all assemblies and parts of the double bottom DB assembly and all sub-assemblies in the
double bottom.
8. Inspect the summary report.
Profile Report
This report lists all profiles in the selected assemblies. The profiles are sorted by the manufacturing processes
required. You may have the same flat bar stock used for curved profiles on the shell plating, straight stiffeners
on some panels, and for faceplates to re-enforce some man-holes. The profiles will be listed in three individual
sections of the report.
1. In the PWBS and SWBS dialog select U12.
9. Go to the next page. It lists the profiles for the first profile size in the list on the summary page. Observe the
multiple listing of 8 for profiles ...S01 and ...S05.
Nests Dialog
The Nests dialog gives you access to the nest reports. It also displays a list of all nests. For each nest all parts are
displayed in a convenient list with all important parameters.
1. In Manager, select Reports / Nesting.
2. Highlight a nest in the list on the left. The dialog displays important information about the selected nest.
6. The next page(s) contain the overview information for all nests.
Overview
The Pipe tutorial makes use of the structure of the demo unit U12. Several Pipe drawings are included in the project
and will be utilized in various sections of the tutorials.
The pipe tutorial is divided into the following main sections:
• Pipe 3D Modeling. This includes:
• Placing pipes/fittings and Outfit parts
• Using the Catalog Stock Editor to create Size Definitions, End Treatments, fittings, and
Connections.
• Importing stocks from another database.
• Creating pipe penetrations
• Spooling:
• Tour of pre generated spools
• Preparation of Pipe drawings for spooling.
• Generation of spool drawings from completed Pipe drawings.
Overview
It will take several hours to complete the pipe 3D modeling section, however, it is not necessary to complete it in
order to continue with the later sections, Spooling, and Arrangement drawings.
Within this section you will place various Pipe components and Outfit parts in partially completed Pipe drawings.
Additionally, you will use the Catalog Stock Editor to create a valve and import a stock from another database.
Finally a penetration will be added where a pipe run passes through part of the ship structure.
Overview
This portion of the exercise requires that you log into the U12 module of the ShipConstructor2001Demo. Once
logged into the project you will be able to open the partially completed Pipe drawing, “TUTORIAL_BASE.dwg”.
We will be working almost exclusively within this drawing for the duration of this tutorial section.
To view the completed tutorial drawing, open the drawing “TUTORIAL_COMPLETE.dwg”.
In the Register Unit Dialog, select Change Project. Locate the ShipConstructor2001Demo.pro file (this
should be in your “Projects\ShipConstructor2001Demo” folder). The Units included in the project will be listed.
Pipe Toolbar
Straight Pipe
Elbow
Tee
Flange Connector
Valve
Reducer
Cap
Cross Pipe
Wye Pipe
Bent Pipe
Outfit Part
Default Stocks
Pipe options
Database interface
1. Press ShipConstructor / Xref groups… or press the button in the ShipConstructor toolbar.
2. Uncheck the frame U12F114.
3. Press OK.
4. For easiest viewing of the structure and pipes make sure you are using AutoCAD’s shademode (Gourad looks
best for pipes). However, with many pipes loaded in a drawing, you will find the best performance (3D Orbit)
by utilizing a combination of Pipe display options and AutoCAD display options.
5. Click in the Pipe toolbar. In the Display tab select 3D Mesh then click OK. Select AutoCAD’s 2D
Wireframe shademode to get the best speed.
7. Select SC Structure / Hide or click and hide the aft most frame, U12F106.
8. Now turn on the layer “Construction”. This will activate some pre placed construction lines used for modeling
the pipes.
2. Press the Default System button to open the Set System dialog. Highlight the freshwater cooling system, FW
COOLING and press OK.
Specs, or specifications, stipulate specific details for design, fabrication, and construction. In ShipConstructor –
Pipe, Specs allow for grouping of catalog stocks that conform to a particular design specification (spec).
Use the specs to the advantage of your company. An example scenario is to create a spec for each system.
Grouping pipes in this manner allows the pipe designers to easily select pipes and fittings for placement when
working in a particular system. The following figure shows the above scenario.
The Stocks list will be updated to show only the stocks included in this spec.
5. Select the pipe, PIP-SM-CS-6_SCH80, from the stock list. This pipe will now be the default pipe used when
placing straight and bent pipes.
Note: We will be using OSNAPS, both AutoCAD’s and ShipConstructor’s, repeatedly through the tutorial. A
convenient way to access these is to press Shift + Mouse Right Click.
and from the ShipCon Snap tab you can set ShipConstructor’s Osnaps.
The stock Name, Spec, Schedule, and End Treatment Types is displayed on the command line. The next line
offers options for placement. We will use the default option, first Point.
7. Locate the point labeled “Start” in the drawing and click there. This is the first end of the straight pipe.
8. For the second point, use the Near Osnap and click somewhere on the first line (see figure).
c) Press OK.
10. Now an elbow will be added to the pipe.
Before Rotation
After Rotation
Now the elbow points in the right direction but the pipe is too short. The outlet axis of the elbow should lie
on the second line. We will drag the elbow’s outlet so that is lies on the construction line going off towards
starboard direction.
e) Select the elbow.
f) Select the free end grip point.
g) Using OSNAP NEAREST drag the free outlet to the construction line going towards starboard.
11. Continuing with the pipe run, a reducer will be added to the elbow
a) Begin by hiding the tank top deck so it will not interfere with our Osnap selection. Press and the then
click the tank top.
The reducer automatically aligns itself to the elbow since it has “connected” itself to the elbow.
12. We will run a bent pipe from the reducer to the lower port of the heat exchanger. But first let’s mate a slip-on
Flange to the heat exchanger’s flange so that we can run the bent pipe directly into it.
a) Zoom out and locate the heat exchanger.
f) Pick Yes. The Specs and Stocks Dialog will open with only the stock, FL-SO-CS-4_CLS150 listed. Why is
it that only the one stock is listed? Well, the reason is that after selecting the heat exchanger’s flange,
ShipConstructor – Pipe searches the database for stocks of the type “Flange/Connector” that have End
Treatments that will connect to the flange.
g) Select the stock FL-SO-CS-4_CLS150 and press OK.
h) Press F3 to switch your OSNAP settings back on.
Once an End Treatment has been created you can assign it to an end of an entity. For example, a slip-on flange
requires two End Treatments since it will be mated to two components (another flange and the pipe it will slip onto).
One End Treatment would be defined and added to allow connection to the Flange and the other to allow for a
connection to the socket.
Not to be overlooked in connections are accessories. Accessories in the usual sense are any components such as
bolts and gaskets that would normally be included in a connection. You can however, also relate a work procedure
to a connection as an Accessory.
6. At point 4 a message will appear informing you that the maximum stock length is about to be exceeded.
Choose No. This will continue the routing of the Bent Pipe without breaking the pipe according to its stock
length. We will break it later.
7. Press F3 to switch OSNAP off to force a connection to the end of the flange. Finish by connecting to point 5, on
the flange. Do not click to the end point of the construction line, as this would not connect the bent pipe
logically to the flange.
8. Select the COUPLING standard, 3 INCH GEN SET FLEX HOSE and press OK.
9. For the first point, select the midpoint of the vertical construction line below the flange as shown in the figure.
10. Press ENTER for no rotation.
4. The Outfit part will be moved and connected to the flange and should look like the following figure. Notice the
color of the flanges changing from RED (unconnected) to GREEN (connected).
What you are really doing in the program when you add a saddle stitch is to create another endpoint on a pipe
segment, to which other pipe entities may attach. For example, a straight pipe normally has only two ends to which a
pipe may be connected. By adding a saddle stitch connection, you have the ability to tap into that pipe at any
intermediate location. The following figure shows a plain-ended pipe connected with a saddle stitch to produce an
angled branch of pipe.
The following figure shows a straight pipe with two saddle stitches. The saddle stitch on the left has a er section of
pipe attached, whereas the saddle stitch on the right does not. Later, another pipe/fitting may attach to it as long as a
Connection is defined that includes the Saddle Stitch End Treatment and the connecting pipe/fitting[s] End
Treatment.
4. Select somewhere on the upper Bent pipe that is joined to the upper right flange of the heat exchanger.
Select a Pipe to add Saddle To:
The above dialog requires a three step procedure to select the End Treatment:
I. Select the End Treatment Type. Once the Type is chosen, the Nominal Sizes will be updated to
reflect only the sizes of End Treatments defined for that Type.
II. Select the Nominal Size. Once the Nominal Size is chosen, the main list is updated to show the
available saddle stitch End Treatments of the size chosen.
III. Select the End Treatment by selecting from the main list (End Treatments without any extended data
will appear as “<Regular>” )
6. Select the End Treatment Type “SAD”.
7. Drop down the Nominal size list. Notice that the list does not contain a 3” size.
8. Since a 3 inch SAD End Treatment does not exist, one must be created. Press Cancel to abort the function.
Creating a Saddle Stitch End Treatment Using the Catalog Stock Editor
3. From the Show list select SAD and verify that only 2.5 inch and 4 inch End Treatments exist.
4. Edit Types… and verify in the EndTreatment Types that SAD has the IsSaddle set to Yes.
5. Click Cancel to close the dialog.
5. The list currently does not show the End Treatments of the pipes. Switch to the Configure Columns mode by
selecting the Configure Columns radio button.
6. Notice that the End Type 1 and End Type 2 boxes are unchecked. Check them.
7. Observe that the End Treatments for PIP-SM-CS-3-SCH80 are PL-3 in.
b) Sort the list by Name and observe that two Connections exist that mate PL and SAD but they are different
sizes than needed. Also note that both their names are SAD-PL. We can further filter the list to show only
Connections named SAD-PL.
c) Under Show / Connections check the Connection SAD-PL .
4. Accept the copied properties: LineMode Icon, Gap, and Display Treatments and Press Save Changes.
5. This completes the addition of a Connection. Press Done to close the Catalog Stock Editor.
4. For the direction of the saddle stitch (the direction that the pipe will protrude) choose Up.
Pick Saddle Direction [pERp/taN/Angle/Fwd/AFt/Port/Stbd/Up/Down]:U
5. Enter the distance from the centerline that the attaching pipe should be. In this case enter 0. This will make the
pipe appear to be seamlessly attached.
Enter distance from Centerline [Enter for surface]:0
6. At this point of the Straight Pipe command, the saddle stitch has been added and connected to the first point of
the Straight Pipe. Look at the command line and its history.
The above lines, representing the command line history, show the information of the Straight Pipe being placed,
Connection being used, and the name of the pipe being placed as well as the name of the pipe/fitting it is
attaching to.
7. All that remains is to specify the second end point of the Straight Pipe. This can be done with the mouse, or
through keyboard entry.
Specify second point or [Length]:
Adding a Valve
The following six steps add a simple shut-off valve to the stub-in created in the above sections.
1. Place a 3” flat-faced flange on the end of the stub-in. Use FL-SO-FF-CS-3_CLS150.
3. Using the Bent Pipe command, route a pipe between the flanges placed in steps 1 and 2. Use the stock PIP-SM-
CS-3_SCH80 and place it in the same manner described in the section titled: Routing a Bent Pipe above.
Importing Pipes
The model above is nearly finished; however, some editing will be done to further explore other Pipe functions.
Zoom out on the drawing and look at the portion of Pipe near the start point, specifically the elbow.
3. The first step is to select the database that contains the Pipe stocks that are to be imported. Press the Select
button.
4. You must specify the server name and the database hosted by the server.
The filter options should be familiar to you as they are identical to those in the Spec tab.
6. Note that we are now accessing data contained within another database and not the database containing the
stocks that you have been working with up to now. The Specs, Catalogs, materials, standards, etc. may all be
different but in our case the Spec FW Cooling also exists in the import database.
7. Select Ballast from the Spec drop list.
12. Again set the filter options to show only the Tee’s. This time leave the Catalog and Spec drop lists set to show
All. We don’t want to filter by spec since the Tee has not yet been added to a spec.
c) Press OK.
15. Click Done to exit the Catalog Editor.
16. The tee can now be inserted in the drawing.
Replacing Pipes/Fittings
Changing stocks in a drawing is a fairly simple task as can be seen in the following section.
1. Select the elbow as shown in the following figure and then delete it.
9. Complete the placement of the Tee by specifying the outlet orientation. Use the Aft option by entering “A”.
Outlet orientation or [Connection/Fwd/Aft/Up/Down]:A
10. Now we can drag the Tee, which at the same time lengthens the pipe, so that the Tee is inline with the 6” pipe.
a) Select the Tee and grab the center grip point
11. Finally, connect the Straight Pipe to the Tee. Do so by selecting the pipe and using its end grip point to drag it
to the outlet of the Tee. The Tee and Straight Pipe are connected automatically.
1. Start the Catalog Stock Editor by clicking in the Pipe toolbar or by typing SCCATALOGEDITOR.
2. Switch to the Create/Edit Pipe tab.
3. Select the Valve check box to see what valves already exist in the database.
5. Press New Valve. The Create New Pipe – Valve dialog will open:
14. Choose to show only products from the Ductile Iron Catalog.
15. Select the checkbox to display only Valves.
16. From the stock list select the Valve VAL-GLB-FL-DI-6_CLS150.
17. Press the Assign to Spec… and choose the FW COOLING spec. Press OK.
A connection already exists that allows for joining the Valves End Treatment, FL-6 in-150LB FF, to another of
the same type and size. Therefore we do not need to create a connection before using this Valve.
18. Press Done to close the Catalog Stock Editor. The Valve can now be placed in the drawing.
Placing a Valve
The valve created in the previous section will be placed to complete the Pipe model.
3. From the stock list, select the flange FL-SO-FF-CS-6_CLS150. Press OK.
4. For the first point, select the free end of the Tee.
Specify first point or [eXchange ends/Stock/sAddle stitch]:
7. From the stock list, select the flange VAL-GLB-FL-DI-6_CLS150. Press OK.
9. The valve will automatically align itself with the flange but the handle direction still needs to be specified.
Choose the Up option by typing “U” and pressing Enter.
10. The valve and model should like the following figures.
14. Double-Click the first select or right-click and select View. Click the “+” sign until you can clearly make
out the interference. The screen should look as shown.
15. Press the Add Pipe Pen button. This brings up the global penetrations list of all penetrations added to the unit.
The list should so far contain one entry.
20. ShipConstructor:
• Automatically finds the structural drawings that need to have penetrations added to any structural parts.
• Opens each drawing in the background.
• Inserts the penetration(s) into the structural parts.
• Updates the database with new weight and CG data for all penetrated structural parts.
• Adds revisions to the structural parts.
25. Select Edit Part , click on the lower plate part in the drawing (switch to the
production layer and to an appropriate view if required) and press ENTER..
31. Select Attach XREF and select the drawings as shown below.
Penetration Definition
Where does the information required to create the cutout come from? It is defined in the Catalog Stock Editor under
the Create/Edit Pipe tab.
2. The dialog that opens by default lists all straight stocks contained in the database. Select the stock PIP-SM-CS-
6_SCH80. This was the pipe used to create the cutout in the frame above. The Pipe Penetrations list in the
bottom right of the dialog is updated to display all the penetrations created for this stock. Note the dimensions
and shape of the cutout.
Overview
The spooling tutorial consists of three sections:
• Spool info layout,
• Setting up Spools, and
• Generating Spools.
You would start using the drawing BALLAST_BASE and go through all the step preparing the 3D pipe model
drawing for a single system for spooling. At the end you will have:
• BALLAST_BASE converted to the same state as BALLAST_COMPLETE.
• Created a new spool naming convention, and
• Defined a new spool setting style.
You may wish to skip the first two steps, if you are just interested in seeing how the spool drawings are
automatically created. Go to the section titled “Generating Spools” and use drawing
BALLAST_COMPLETE.DWG” instead of BALLAST_BASE.DWG”. Also use the already existing spool naming
convention and spool setting style, instead of the ones mentioned in the text..
Overview
This portion assumes that you have logged into the demo project by registering into unit U12, and have at least a
passing familiarity with the modeling portion of the tutorial. We will begin with a tour of some already generated
spool drawings. We will then go into more detail on how to setup to create new spools..
4. The icon in front of the five spools indicates that the spool drawings are not only defined but also generated.
The possible icons are:
• Defined - This icon indicates that the spool has been defined in the model, but
the spool drawing hasn’t been generated yet.
• Defined and locked - This icon indicates the spool is defined, is not generated, and is
locked. You will not be able to change any of the in this spool.
• Drawing Generated - This icon indicates the spool drawing exists and the spool has been
locked.
6. This spool drawing was created automatically by ShipConstructor and then modified to the client’s
specifications. ShipConstructor provides three methods of customizing the spool drawings.
i. Template Drawings - Similar to Structural Assemblies, spools can be customized through the use of
template drawings. The templates can be fully configured by the user to so that all spool drawings
have a uniform appearance, additionally keywords (such as weight, cg, system) can be added which are
replaced by ShipConstructor at the time of generation. This will be covered in a later section of the
tutorial.
ii. Spool Style Settings - Numerous settings such as bubble size, flange width and dimension offset
can be customized and saved to the database, later to be applied each time a spool is generated. This
will be covered in a later section of the tutorial
iii. Manual Editing - Due to the diversity of spool formats it may be necessary to use regular AutoCAD
functions to tweak the spool drawing to a specific dimensioning style or specification.
Setting up Spools
Overview
This section covers breaking the ballast system for unit U12 system into logical spools, assigning a custom naming
convention and using it to name the spools.
3. We need to adjust some of the display settings so click on the Pipe Options button and make sure the
Display tab is selected.
4. Make sure that both the Spool Break Indicators and Pipe Status symbols are turned on and set to 250
mm. Select a color that will be easily visible against the pipes.
5. Close the dialog.
5. In this example:
• The first element is a static string, which can contain any collection of characters, and numbers the user
desires. In this case “JOB1001-” indicates the job number of the project.
• The second element is the name of the drawing the spool came from.
• The third element is another static string, this time it is just a separator “-” between the previous
element and the next.
7. Click twice on the new Style in the List Box until you are able to edit the name. Change the name to “Spl
Naming”.
8. Once you have renamed the style, select it in the list box so that is Elements are displayed on the right hand
side. As you can see it has had all its elements copied from the “Demo Style”. For our new style we want to
have the name of the drawing displayed first. To do this select the Drawing element (item 2) in the list and
click the Move Up button once. The drawing name is now first.
9. In order to see what our new naming convention will look like press the Test button to generate a random
sample name. Something similar to “BALLAST_COMPLETEJOB1001—001” should appear below the test
button. This name is hard to read, as there is no separator between the drawing name and the job number.
10. To fix this select “JOB1001-” from the element list (item 2), which will cause the details for this element to be
displayed below it in the Details box.
11. The first row, Type, displays the type of element to be used. The possible options are Static (unchanging
string that remains the same for all spools), DB Item (information gathered from the database depending on the
spool being generated) and AutoNumber (an automatically generated number used to ensure that each spool
has a unique name). In this case it is set to Static. The String is currently set to “JOB1001-”. We want to edit
the string to say “-JOB1001” as the separator is now in the wrong location. Click on JOB1001- twice and edit it
to look like this: “-JOB1001”,
12. Press the Test button again and the name should now look something like this “BALLAST_COMPLETE-
JOB1001-001”. This is better, however for this example we’ve decided our spool numbering is going to start at
050. To change this select “AutoNumber” (item 4) in the Elements list. The current AutoNumber settings
appear in the details as listed below.
Note: Our naming convention is relatively simple, but it serves to demonstrate how spool names are fully
customizable. See the reference section for more information.
16. Open the Pipe Options dialog by pressing on the Pipe Options button on the toolbar. Switch to the
Defaults tab.
17. Currently the “Demo Style” naming convention is set as the default. Select “Spl Naming” as the new Spool
Naming Convention Style.
18. Click OK to close the dialog. We are now ready to go about the process of defining spools.
.
2. Make sure you have the view centered on the system. All the spool managing is done from one dialog called the
Spool Manager. Launch this dialog now from SC Pipe / Spool Manager.
3. The Spool Manager is designed as a Modeless dialog, meaning that you can access AutoCAD while the
dialog is up. Move the dialog to the upper left hand corner of the screen so you can see both the dialog and the
entire system at the same time.
5. As you can see all 23 pipes/fittings are grouped into one spool collection by default. Uncheck the Center check
box so that the view will not be changed as you select spools in the Spool Manager tree. Before defining the
spools and giving them names we want to divide them into smaller collections as the system is too large to be
spool together.
6. The first step to splitting up the spools is to set any pipes/fittings, which are not going to be included in a spool
as being Free. To do this, choose Free-Set from the right side of the dialog.
7. The dialog will stay up while allowing you to choose multiple pipes in the background to set to No Spool.
Select pipes to free.
Select objects:
8. Choose the Ball valve in the upper right corner of the drawing and hit enter. Focus is set back to
the Spool Manager dialog and the tree is disabled as the information there is no longer up-to-date as you have
changed the configuration of the system. The tree will remain disabled until the Refresh Info button is
pressed; this allows you to make numerous changes to the configuration of the system without having to wait for
9. Back in the Spool Manager, click the Refresh Info button to update the tree to reflect these changes.
Expanding the Tree should show two undefined spools. Setting the valve to No-Spool divided the ballast system
into 2 undefined spools.
10. Double clicking on the larger collection (Undefined 1) will highlight all items belonging to it in the drawing.
Double clicking on the smaller collection (Undefined 2) will highlight everything above the free valve. The
smaller collection is ok for production, however the large one is still too big and must be further broken down.
We are going to add three spool breaks to break up the remaining pipes into convenient sizes for production.
11. Click on the Spool Breaks - Add button to start adding break points. The Spool Manager dialog will
disappear the following will appear on the command line.
Pick pipe near connection to break at:
12. The Spool Breaks - Add command allows you to place multiple break points at once. Click on the pipes in
the following three locations as close to the connection as is possible, once you have successfully added the
break points hit ESC to finish and bring up the Spool Manager again.
Note: If you accidentally add break points to the wrong location you can use the Spool breaks - Remove
command to remove them.
13. You should then see circular discs around the connections that have had break points. The size and color of the
symbols is set in the Pipe Options - Display. Please refer to the reference manual for more information on
these settings.
15. Double clicking on each collection will highlight it in the drawing. As you can see the system is broken up in a
much more logical manner, it is time to define the spools.
17. Since you are creating new spools, ShipConstructor needs to gather some information about the properties of
the spools. To do this it brings up the Spool Properties dialog.
18. All spools will be assigned to a PWBS assembly item. The default is to assign them to the current Unit (Demo-
U12). This is fine, however make sure that Paint has been set to NO and the IsGalvanized option has been
checked. When these settings have been adjusted, click OK to continue with spool definition.
19. Next the Spool Manager dialog disappears and the command prompt displays.
Choose spool:
20. Click on the spools in the order shown previously, the command line will continue prompting until all the spools
have been chosen or the command is canceled (if canceled before all spools have been chosen then some of the
spools will be left undefined). If you choose an invalid pipe or a spool that has already been chosen then the
command line will inform you that an invalid choice has been made and ask you to choose again.
21. Once you are finished the Spool-Manager dialog will reappear containing the spools you have now defined.
Notice how they have used the naming convention previously defined!
22. If you didn’t define the spools in the correct order or missed one, don’t worry we’ll cover how to modified
already defined spools in the next section.
Spool Properties
1. First off let’s look at the properties of one of our newly created spools, right click on BALLAST_BASE-
JOB1001-053 and select Edit Properties from the drop down menu.
3. The Spool history lists only one entry, the definition of the spool. This lists all the major changes and events that
have happened to the spool since it was created. To see this in action, uncheck the Galvanization option and
the click OK.
4. Open the Edit Properties dialog for BALLAST_BASE-JOB1001-053 again.
5. As you can see there was a “Properties Changed” item added to the history recording that the galvanization
changed. The history also records which user made this change, making it easy to find out who changed the
spool and when.
Renaming Spools
Now let’s say we accidentally mixed up spool 053 and 054 and we want to switch them around. First we will clear
the definition of spool 053 (this will make it undefined) and then rename 054 to 053 (we had to clear 053 in
order to make the name available when we renamed 054). Finally we will rename the former 053 (now undefined)
to 054. We’ll go through it step by step in the next section.
3. Spool 053 has been cleared and moved to the Undefined Category (for more information on the available
spool categories and their meaning, see the Reference manual), see below.
4. Next right click on the spool BALLAST_BASE-JOB1001-054 and select Rename from the drop down menu.
5. The Available Spool Names dialog comes up showing the next 10 available names that we could choose
from. If we wanted more than 10 choices we could enter any number we choose in the lower right hand box to
expand or shrink the list. Remember that the more names we display the longer it will take to bring up this
dialog in the future. In any case we want to change the name to BALLAST_BASE-JOB1001-053, so select it
in the list and hit OK.
6. After the dialog closes the spool manager tree should look like the screen shot below. However how do we
know that new BALLAST_BASE-JOB1001-053 is in fact the one renamed?
8. Its time to define the last spool so close the Spool Properties dialog box by clicking on Cancel (or OK if
you haven’t made any changes). Rather than defining the spool by running the Choose Order command again
since we only want to define 1 spool this time we will use the Define command. Right click on the undefined
spool and choose Define from the drop down menu.
9. Next the Define Spool dialog will ask you to choose a name for the new spool. The option <New Spool-Next
Auto Name> will use the next available name (which should be BALLAST_BASE-JOB1001-054). The
option <New Spool-Choose Auto Name> will bring up the Available Spool Names dialog we saw
earlier giving you the option to choose from a list of names.
10. Select <New Spool-Next Auto Name> in the list and click OK. Note: For extra practice try the other
option.
5. All the spools will then have been moved from the Defined Category to the Locked Category (Note: The
manager only shows Categories that have spools in them so the Defined Category will no longer be displayed).
Moving the Locked spools back to the Defined Category is as simple as selecting Unlock from the drop
down menu while the Locked spools are selected.
Generating Spools
Overview
This section will cover the generation of Spool Drawings from our previously defined spools.
4. As you can see all spools that were just defined now show up under they BALLAST_BASE drawing. Notice
the icon indicates that these spools have been locked. However it lacks the symbol meaning the spool
drawings are not created yet. If using BALLAST_COMPLETE.DWG the icon will show that the spool
drawings already exist. We will just overwrite them with new ones later.
3. The template is made up of at least 1 viewport in paperspace (while a spool drawing could have multiple
viewports, this is not how it is generally done), along with numerous keywords. The keywords are simple
AutoCAD text, which look like <KEYWORD> and are replaced by ShipConstructor with the appropriate
information when the Spool is generated. For example “<SYSTEM>” would be replaced by the System of the
spool (ie Ballast, Fuel Line), or “<GALVANIZED>” which will be replaced by “Y” if the spool is galvanized or
an “N” if it is not. For more information on setting up Templates and Keywords please see the Assembly
Template section of the Structure Reference manual.
4. In addition to the Keywords the spools also use two other facets of the template to provide Customization:
a. Layer 0 - All pipes inserted into the spool drawing go onto layer zero, so the user should set the
Color and line Lineweight of the layer to reflect the desired appearance of the pipes.
b. Dimension Style - When generating the dimensions for the spool drawing ShipConstructor
will use one of the Dimension Styles in the template to format the dimensions. Users can have
multiple dimension styles in the spool template allowing for maximum customization (as the
Dimension Style to use is chosen each time spools are generated).
4. Next the second Create Spool Drawings dialog will be displayed. This allows you to choose which spool
drawings you want to generate, currently it has selected all the spools for drawing BALLAST_BASE since
that’s the one we had selected when we started the command. However you can change the drawings to be
generated here by checking/unchecking the spools selected in the Tree. You also have the option of viewing the
available Spools by System or by Assembly if this is more convenient. For now we just want to generate
all the BALLAST_BASE spools so click on Next to continue.
6. Select “Demo Style” first click on the New button which will generate a new style with a default name “New
Style”. First we want to rename the spool style to “Demo Style 2”. To do this click on the style name in the list
box until it becomes editable then delete the current name and type in the new one.
7. Settings Summary:
8. Once these changes have been made, click on Save to save the changes to the database. Then click on OK to
actually generate the spools.
9. ShipConstructor will now generate the spool drawings in the background and then open them each up for
formatting individually.
10. After all the spools have been generated the last one will be left on the screen, in this case BALLAST_BASE-
JOB1001-054.
IMPORTANT: The size of the labels and customs length text will change if you are in a zoomed in or out state.
REGEN while in the viewport when you have established the desired zoom level again. All text sizes will be
adjusted and plotted in the correct paper-space size.
Before After
3. Zoom and pan the viewport to the correct size and position for plotting. The type REGEN to size all custom
labels to the specified paper-space size.
4. The spool drawing is now in its final form.
6. Pan to the right until you see the BOM. It is formatted as selected in one of the sections before.
9. You might decide that this is not the best position for production. You can interactively rotate the drawing and
all our custom labels will still “look” at you. Only the AutoCAD dimensions will retain their respective
orientations. With the next release ShipConstructor will also implement custom SMART dimensioning. Let us
try this out now.
10. Start ORBIT.
11. Right-click and select More / Zoom Extents.
13. You can also us the ShipConstructor 3D View dialog to set other views.
Overview
The Outfit module lets you define a library of outfit standards, such as pumps, winches, and light bulbs. The outfit
standards are then placed into individual outfit arrangement or piping drawings to form a complete product model
together with Structure and Pipe.
The Outfit Tutorial explores various aspects of the Outfit module including:
• Placement of crane on main deck.
• Creation of an Outfit item and part.
• Investigation of the weight and CG of deck assembly.
Outfit Menu
Terminology
Outfit Standard – An Outfit Standard is an AutoCAD drawing containing a component represented by solids,
any drafting entities, pipe connections, and is combined with information in the
ShipConstructor database. You can build catalogs of reusable outfit standards used
anywhere in the project. Examples would likely be engines, pumps, ladders, railings, etc.
Outfit Parts – Once an Outfit Standard is inserted into an Outfit Arrangement or Pipe drawing, an Outfit
Part is created similarly to a structural or pipe part. Weight and CG are automatically
updated to reflect the insertion.
Outfit Arrangement – Drawings used to place Outfit parts.
Pipe Connection – End Treatments added to an Outfit Standard that allow for connections to pipes created
using ShipConstructor’s – Pipe module.
Overview
This portion of the exercise requires that you log into the U12 module of the ShipConstructor2001Demo. Once
logged into the project you will be able to create a new Outfit Arrangement drawing and continue with the Outfit
tutorial.
3. In the Register Unit Dialog select and log in to U12 of the ShipConstructor demo (see the Structure or Piping
Tutorial for more details).
2. Click the button in the ShipConstructor toolbar to open the Xref Groups dialog.
3. Select the main deck, U12MDCK and frame, U12F110.
7. Click to set up the 3D-View as shown below (FROM FWD STBD UP).
9. Shade the model using AutoCAD’s Gourad shade mode . The frame and deck should now be visible.
a) Click .
b) Select U12MDCK_T in the Activate from list and then press Activate.
11. To create construction lines used to place the winch, use the Mark Group Intersections function. Click on
the ShipConstructor Planar toolbar.
a) Choose OK to mark on the current UCS.
b) Select the frame U12F110 and press OK. This creates a construction line on top of the MDCK plating to
help us place the crane.
by clicking .
12. Draw a line that bisects the group marking line.
a) Start the AutoCAD line command. For the first point enter (0, 2000). For the second point enter (80000,
2000).
b) The model should now look like the following figure:
2. Select the Outfitting Standards folder in the tree, and then select the item AMW_12. Notice that the icon is .
This means that the drawing exists in the Standards / Outfitting folder of your project, but has yet to be
converted into an Outfit Standard. The icon for a defined Outfit Standards is .
4. Notice that a new menu, SC Outfit Standard, has been added to the menu bar.
6. Before an Outfit Standard can be created a CG point must be added to the drawing. Select SC Outfit
Standard / Insert Center of Gravity Point. If only one point exists in the drawing then it is considered the
CG point. Otherwise the point entity must be selected.
7. For the CG point location, enter 917, -7, 687.
8. Now select SC Outfit Standard / New Outfit Standard.
Multiple CG Points detected. Select point object for CG:
Zoom in and/or rotate the image to select the point near the center of the winch axel.
9. Enter the properties as shown in the following figure and press OK.
11. Place the piecemark somewhere near the location shown in the following figure. Enter “0” for the rotation.
12. Now a pipe end can be added to the boss on the winch brake.
15. Use Osnap Node and select the point at the center of the boss as shown in the following figure:
16. The orientation of the Pipe End, that is the direction of the attaching pipe, needs to be specified.
Specify Direction
22. Observe that the winch AMW_12 and the crane APPLETON_SB_4.5 are listed in the right pane.
23. Click Properties and review the main deck assembly properties as outlined in the preceding section. Note the
new assembly weight of 23891.6 kg as well as the new CG point, which depends on insertion point.
24. The arrangement drawing should look something like the one shown in the following figure:
C
CAD 5, 8, 35, 57, 63, 70, 111, 135, 137–38, 147,
163, 164
Catalog 57, 209, 211, 221, 232, 240, 242, 245, 247,
252–53, 255–56, 259, 263, 273–74
D
3 Detailing 5, 33, 41, 45, 47, 49, 53, 57, 59, 63, 76, 78,
107, 122, 133
3D Orbit 28–30, 69, 167, 181, 218 Display Properties 11
3D Product Model 4, 9
E
A
Elbows 240, 292
Align 57, 140–41, 265 End 1 261
Angle 50–51, 69, 82, 97–98, 125, 146, 177, 184, 248, End Treatment 225, 232, 240–45, 261, 263, 316
292, 311 End Treatment Type 242, 316
Annotating 174–76, 178, 181, 185 End Treatments 73, 209, 229, 231–35, 237, 242–46,
ANSI 231 255, 303
Arrangement Drawings 4, 21, 211, 317 Endcuts 6, 49, 68, 73, 90, 103, 192
ASME 225, 249 EndTreatment Types 243
Assembly 3–6, 8, 19, 22–23, 41, 72, 77, 90, 91, 107, entities 24, 28, 43, 61–63, 79–80, 82–83, 92, 104,
110, 118, 121, 132, 139, 150, 153, 163–64, 106, 121–22, 133, 149, 167, 170, 240, 296, 303
166–72, 174–75, 181, 183–85, 187, 189, 192, Export 8, 24, 41–43, 158
197, 198, 201–3, 238, 286, 292–93, 294, 303, extrusion 67–68, 76, 101–2
305–6, 311, 317 Extrusion Lines 67–68, 76
Assembly drawings 4, 6, 8, 19, 22, 92, 107, 121, 150,
163–65, 167, 171–72, 174–75, 183, 187, 198
AutoCAD 3–4, 7–10, 13, 16, 20, 24, 26–30, 34–35, F
41, 43, 52, 56–57, 61, 75, 81, 86, 96, 105, 111, Faceplate 34–36, 39, 47, 49, 72, 83, 86–91, 107–11
120–22, 127, 129, 135, 138, 151, 155, 156, 158, facing 175, 181
167, 175, 176, 182, 187, 218, 222–23, 261, 277, filter 127, 138–39, 147, 193, 246, 253, 255
282, 293, 296, 299, 303, 308, 310, 312 Fittings 209, 211, 221, 224, 232, 256, 283
AutoNest 139, 147–48 Flange 57, 73, 97–100, 230, 232, 234–37, 239, 241,
249–51, 264–65, 277, 296–97
B Flange/Connector 231, 264
flanged 35, 46, 49, 92–93, 95, 97–98, 107, 143, 264
Bent Pipe 230, 233–34, 240–41, 250–51 Flanges 97–98, 239, 251, 296
Bent pipes 222, 240 Flat 35–36, 38–39, 46, 49, 56, 67–70, 72, 81, 89–90,
Block 9, 35, 38, 72, 81 97, 108, 178, 200, 202, 249–51
BOM 21, 135, 137, 149–53, 155–56, 164–65, 174, Flyout 47–48, 51, 73, 76, 78
185, 291–92, 294, 299 font 10–11
branch 198, 240, 296 Frame 8–9, 26, 32, 37–39, 46, 49–51, 53–56, 58–61,
Bridging 157 63–64, 66, 77, 83–86, 88, 92–95, 101–4, 114,