Cafe Tutorial September 2013

8/10/2019 Cafe Tutorial September 2013

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User-oriented software for rapid ship design

How-to-start Tutorial

September 2013 as2con alveus ltd www.bvbcafe.com [email protected]


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How-to-start Tutorial CAFE user-oriented software for rapid ship design

2November 2011 as2con-alveus ltd www.bvbcafe.com [email protected]

It is our pleasure to introduce you to the first steps of working in CAFE

ship design software:

1. Firstly, Model and Model Group have to be defined. In Project Explorer Tree,

right-click on MODELS and select Add Model Then, right-click on newly created

model and select Add Model Group. Clicking on newly created Model Group, it

becomes active. A group has to be active to start modeling in that group. User

can add more Model Groups if necessary. Geometry and mesh elements can be

copied or moved from one group to another.

2. Create X, Y, Z guidelines in positions corresponding to ship's dimensions (e.g.:x1=0, x2=10000 mm (Length of section); y1=0, y2=6000 mm (half of ship's

Breadth); z1=0, z2=7000 mm (ship Height), Figure 1. Guideline planes are

created by pressing X, Y or Z on keyboard (depending on which plane you want

to create). They can be activated by right clicking on them and deactivated by

right clicking on empty space. Guideline planes are copied by pressing X, Y or Z

for a predefined offset (the plane you want to copy has to be active). Points and

curves can be moved and aligned either manually (hold left mouse key and drag

point simultaneously) or using guiding planes (see manual). When moving

entities, move option on the bottom of the screen has to be activated.

Figure 1. Adding points and defining their coordinates using guiding planes


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3. To add a point, click on the Point Toolon toolbar. Point will be added on active

guide (right click on guide to activate it), Figure 1. This procedure is practical for

making frame curves.

Points are used to generate curves more easily. Activated points (left mouse

click) are highlighted in red. You can enter coordinates of an activated point by

right-clicking on VER: (...) on the screen bottom. In pop-up window, enter

coordinates in this form: X*Y*Z, Figure 1. Points coloured in green aren't

activated and corresponding sign on screen bottom shows VER:NONE.

4. To add a curve, select several points (2 for line, more for curve), but mind

that clicking order matters. Click on the Insert Spline Curve Tool on toolbar,

Figure 2.

Figure 2. Creating curve from points

5. Curves are copied along axis using Copy Tool from toolbar. To move curve

along X-axis, MOVE:X has to be enabled and Offset distance adjusted on the

bottom of the screen, Figure 3.


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Figure 3. Copying curves using Offsetdistance and Copy Tool

6. To create a complex surface (e.g. shell plating), select several curves (mind

the order) and click on Surface Toolin toolbar, Figure 4. Note that surface is loft

based, so curves shouldn't intersect. If so - use splitting first.

Figure 4. Creating complex surface on curves using Surface Tool


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Figure 6. Splitting frames in position of longitudinal girder using guiding plane

Now select 4 of newly created vertices and click Strake Toolon toolbar, Figure 7.

Strakes can be easily copied, moved or extended using guiding planes (see

manual).

Figure 7. Creating strakes using strake Strake Tool


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Repeat the procedure to close the remaining structure, Figure 8.

Figure 8. Closing inner shell structure using strake elements

9. Openings can be made on triangular and quadrilateral strakes after defining

their properties. In Project Explorer Tree select Openings, click + and define

desired characteristics (e.g. Manhole 800x600 mm), Figure 9.The latest version

experiences problems with this feature that will be resolved in future versions.

Figure 9. Defining opening characteristics


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Select previously defined opening type from drop-down Openings Menu on the

Menu Bar. Then, select strake(s) you wish to apply opening(s) on and select

Opening Toolon toolbar, Figure 10. For more details on openings' definition see

manual.

Figure 10. Applying openings on strakes using Opening Tool

10. Stiffened panels can be made both on strakes and surfaces. To import profile

database, click FileDatabaseImport Profiles inMenu Bar (browse Profiles.xls

from the folder in which CAFE is instaled).

In Project Explorer Tree click on Profilesand select profile you need (be

sure to remember profile Unique ID, e.g. ID 16 for HP 180x8), Figure 11.Then, select StiPanels in ProjectExplorer Tree and click +. StiProfile with ID 0

should be left empty (StiProfile -1). Click + again and then define StiPanel

properties. Type profile Unique ID number into StiProfile field (ID 16 for HP

180x8). Add Description and StiSpacing, Figure 12. Various StiPanel properties

can be defined in this menu (see manual).


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Figure 11. Defining Profile ID andproperties

Figure 12. Defining StiPanel properties

Select strake(s) you wish to apply StiPanel on and click on desired StiPanel (HP

180x10) from drop-down StiPanel Menuon the Menu Bar, Figure 13.

Figure 13. Selecting strakes for applying StiPanels

Stiffeners' orientation and side can be changed using Shift Stiffener Orientation

Tool, Shift Entity Nodes Tool and Flip Normal Tool in the toolbar. Applying

StiPanel-0 (StiPanel with ID 0) on strake will remove all previously defined


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StiPanels from that strake. To learn more about StiPanels and profiles see

manual. StiPanels applied on strakes are shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14. StiPanels applied on strakes

11. Single beams can be added on any 2 vertices in the model. Firstly, select

desired profile (T 300x10x150x12) from drop-down Profiles Menuon the Menu

Bar. Then select 2 desired vertices and click Beam Tool on toolbar. Stiffener

Angle Toolon toolbar is used to rotate beam around longitudinal axis. T-Beam

defined on 2 vertices is shown in Figure 15.


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Figure 15. Defining beams on 2 vertices

12. CAFE software serves as FEM pre-processor, which means that users can

define element thickness (see manual) and FEM mesh.

To mesh models select Tools FE meshin Project Explorer Treeand define Mesh

Element Length (e.g. 150 mm), Figure 16. For more mesh characteristics see

manual.

Figure 16. Defining Mesh Element Length


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Create new Model Group named Mesh and activate it. Select entities that you

want to mesh and click Mesh Selected Entitieson toolbar, Figure 17. Mesh can be

repaired by using Repair Selected Vertices Mesh Tool and Relax Selected Mesh

Toolfrom toolbar (see manual).

Figure 17. FE Mesh applied on model

For a more detailed guideline for modeling in Cafe look at the User's Guide.

Cafe Tutorial September 2013

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