New Orca3D Version (2.0.20) Available

We are happy to announce the release of Orca3D Version 2.0.20. This is a free update to Version 2 license holders. If you have a Version 1 license, please click here to purchase an upgrade to Version 2.

To update a previous installation of Orca3D Version 2, use the Control Panel to uninstall your current version. Next, download the installation file from this page. Double-click on the downloaded file to run it, and follow the instructions.

Following is a summary of what is new in Version 2.0.20, as well as the previous release, Versions 2.0.15, 2.0.16, 2.0.17, 2.0.18, and 2.0.19:

Release 2.0.20 (December 2020)


Our testing has shown that Orca3D 2.0.19 and later works smoothly in Rhino 7, and SubD surfaces are compatible with calculations such as Sections, Hydrostatics & Stability, Speed & Power, and Weight & Cost. Real-time sections currently do not work with SubD models; that is, the sections don’t update as a control point is moved, but they do update when the control point is put down.

Enhanced Features

  • The Orca3D licensing library from CopyMinder has been updated, providing two new features. The first applies to network licenses of Orca3D, where in past versions starting multiple instances of Rhino on the same computer (and loading Orca3D) would consume multiple network license seats. Now multiple instances on the same computer will only consume a single network license seat. This new feature does require a change to your Orca3D network license. Please contact support@orca3d.com if you would like us to change your license. Installing version 2.0.20 of Orca3D will still work without a change to your license, but the legacy behavior will continue. The second new feature is intended to reduce the likelihood of false positives being detected by anti-virus software when installing Orca3D for all license types.
  • Modified the Orca Hull Assistants to change the “Create Hull” button to a dropdown button that allows you to choose from several creation options including (1) Starboard Hull, Deck, Transom, (2) Port Hull, Deck, Transom, (3) Starboard Hull Only, (4) Port Hull Only, (5) Full Model.
  • Extended the logic that saves Orca3D plug-in data (e.g. sections, water density, etc.) to also write plug-in data when exporting selected parts of your Rhino model to a new 3dm file.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a bug in the Orca3D cross curves of stability calculation in which the initial waterplane height might not be correct for trimmed surface models.
  • Update the Help menu links to reference the new Orca3D website URLs.
  • Modified the logic for dynamic sizing of the Orca Hydrostatics form to handle text scaling on high DPI (4K) systems. In earlier versions the form buttons were sometimes cut off in the display.
  • Fixed an issue in the Orca CFD Render command in which simulation output files which have user-defined variable columns would cause the render to fail (such as in the case for self-propelled simulations)

 

Release 2.0.19 (October 2020)

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a couple of globalization issues. One was in the form for defining grid refinement zones used in Orca3D Marine CFD. The other was in the evaluation of stability criteria expressions that reference hydrostatics properties (e.g., Loa).
  • Added check for invalid geometry in OrcaCreateCFDRender command.
  • Modified the logic for enabling/disabling the propulsor controls in the propeller definition form used in Orca3D Marine CFD. Also fixed a bug in parsing the text field for a constant thrust value in the Simerics Propulsor form.
  • Fixed a bug in Orca3D Marine CFD in which self-propelled simulations could potentially run with a a different time step than expected.
  • Addressed a surface meshing issue in Orca3D Marine CFD in which meshing could fail in specific cases. Also fixed an issue in Orca’s mesh preview for hydrostatics and CFD where mesh objects may not be displayed if they had not been pre-computed.
  • Fixed an issue to allow dynamic help to work for Orca3D in Rhino 6.
  • Fixed a bug in the Savitsky planing analysis in which the extended output values of Lk, Lc, and d were being incorrectly reported.

 

Release 2.0.18 (July 2020)

 Enhanced Features

  • Enhanced the OrcaHydrostatics command by allowing the user to display and adjust the mesh used in the hydrostatics calculation. The Hydrostatics form now includes an “Adjust Meshes” button that behaves similarly to that found in the CFD Options form.
  • Extended the form for creating/modifying CFD refinement zones so that the user can directly input the zone geometry definition in addition to specifying it graphically.
  • Added a “Reset” button to the Preview Mesh form so the user can reset the meshing values to the initial values when the form was opened.
  • Added a new command line option to the Orca3D MSI installer so that quiet installs can be performed without trying to open any UI elements. The option “ShowOrcaInstructions=false” will prevent the final Instructions form from opening.

 Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a bug in the face attribution logic for the SimericsMP CFD analysis where selecting objects for face attribution that were not part of the original object(s) selected for the CFD analysis could cause problems in the UI.
  • Modified the SimericsMP CFD command so that all 3 moments of inertia are exported in case the user is performing an analysis with user-defined degrees-of-freedom.
  • Also include a “CG” text dot when a user is performing a hydrostatics analysis and the “Transform Model to Resultant Condition” option is selected.
  • Fixed a bug in stability criteria analysis when no angle of vanishing stability is found by giving the user the option to use 180 deg (full inversion) as GZ0. Note that this analysis is also used in the STIX analysis command.

 

Release 2.0.17 (May 2020)

New Features

  • A new command, OrcaCreateCFDRender, was added. This command generates a rendered viewport of the selected Rhino model geometry together with the water surface. Two types of renders are supported. The first shows the model floating at static equilibrium (zero speed) based on the condition setup for the CFD simulation. The second shows the model in its dynamic heave and pitch attitude along with the water free surface mesh extracted from the CFD simulation.
  • Added two new options for the hull type used by the CFD marine template. In addition to displacement hulls, planing hulls, and high-speed displacement hulls, Orca3D now allows the user to specify “Low-Speed Hull” and “Submerged Body” hull types for the simulation. The low-speed hull type may be appropriate for full, low L/B hull forms running at lower Froude numbers where the ship-generated waves are relatively small (and therefore the wave-making resistance is a relatively small part of the total resistance). The marine template makes adjustments to the simulation for these conditions to improve resolution of the free surface waves. The submerged-body hull type allows users to analyze models without a free surface. This hull type is only available with the “Premium” version of Orca3D Marine CFD. Contact support@orca3d.com with any questions about obtaining the Premium version.

Enhanced Features

  • Extended the Savitsky planing hull analysis to include additional parameters in the generated report (wetted keel length, wetted chine length, transom keel depth, critical trim angle for porpoising stability).
  • Modified the Savitsky planing hull analysis so that if a computation fails at one speed do to a failure to find the equilibrium trim angle, that error is reported but the analysis continues instead of ending the analysis with no results.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a reporting bug in stability criteria evaluation in which the base hydrostatics condition for a rollover calc was not first in the list of reported hydrostatics and therefore a heeled condition was being reported. (Note this did not affect the overall evaluation results.)

 

Release 2.0.16 (April 2020)

Enhanced Features

  • Modified the hydrostatics command behavior so that when the user chooses the option to “Add Plane(s) Representing Water Surface” the Rhino objects/groups containing the float planes, text dots, and sectional area curves are created on sublayers of the primary hydrostatics output layer in order to allow easier visualization and identification of the output.
  • Added the ability to copy/paste data to/from the clipboard into the custom conditions control in the Hydrostatic form. A typical source of this data might be a spreadsheet table or a CSV file. When pasting, the data must have 10 columns matching the format of the data in the grid (including empty cells/data in columns where no numbers should be copied). After placing the data to copy into the Windows clipboard, right click on the custom conditions grid control and choose Paste from the pop-up menu.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed an issue in the RIB hull assistant that was preventing the transom surface from being created
  • Fixed an issue in the Orca STIX calculation command that affected the beam-displacement factor, FBD
  • Fixed an issue in Orca control points that sometimes prevented the control polygon line segments from being drawn
  • Fixed an issue in the scriptable version of the OrcaHydrostatics command that caused the pop-up report to be blank if ShowReport=yes

 

Release 2.0.15 (February 2020)

Enhanced Features

  • Extended the Simerics CFD interface to automatically create XY plots for heave/pitch and resistance/EHP during generation of the CFD simulation. This requires SimericsMP version 5.0.9 or later.
  • Added the ability for the user to modify the gravitational constant used for hydrostatics computations.
  • Modified the behavior of the interactive hull assistants so that the view is not zoomed to extents as changes are made to the assistant.

Bug Fixes

  • Modified the scriptable version of the planing hull assistant to include the ability to adjust the chine vertically or transversely (which is already exposed in the interactive version of the assistant).
  • Fixed a bug in which copying Rhino objects that contain Orca CFD user data would create invalid user data on the copied objects.
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