Shell Expansion Dialog Box

The Shell Expansion dialog box appears when you select Shell Expansion in the Drafting section of the action bar. It provides various options for creating shell expansion drawing.

This dialog box contains controls for:

This page discusses:

See Also
Creating a Shell Expansion View

Shell Expansion

Shell Plates
Select a shell plate in the work area, it appears in the Shell Plates box.

If you select more then one plate the icon is activated. Click the icon to check the list of the selected plate. You can replace or remove previously selected plates using this option and close the window.

Reference
Select a straight line in the work area, it appears in the Reference box.

Only one reference element can be selected.

Geometric Curve(s)
Select a curve in the work area, it appears in the Geometric Curve(s) box.

The curve should have a shell like geometrical support for example intersection, projection, free boundary etc...

The expansion parameters are computed from this curve. It determines the position of the expanded plate.

If you select more then one curve, multi-selection is activated. Click to check the list of the selected curves. You can replace or remove previously selected curves using this option and close the window.

Preferences...
Click Preferences... to edit shell expansion options like GVS template, symmetry plane.

When you click Preferences..., the Shell Expansion Preferences dialog box appears.

Shell Expansion Preferences Dialog Box

The Shell Expansion Preferences dialog box contains the following options:

GVS Template
Select a GVS template in the GVS Template list. The selected template is used for generating shell Expansion drawing.
Select Plane Of Symmetry
Select a plane or a curve in the work area, it appears in the Select Plane Of Symmetry box.
Depending upon the geometry of the shell plates, shell plates are processed. They may not be on the starboard side or portside of the hull form, but in between. To properly generate the shell expansion drawing, the geometry should be selected that can be used as the border between starboard side and portside.

Accepted geometry is plane for example Long0 or a curve. However the curve must lay on the hull form.

Portside / Starboard
Select a Portside or Starboard option depending upon the selected shell plate.

While selecting the appropriate option, you should consider following points:

  • For non symmetric hull, it might be required to generate a shell expansion for both side of the hull.
  • If the hull surface is oriented along positive X direction, then:
    • The starboard shell expansion represents structural objects (stiffeners, deck…) in the far side mode (hidden line mode).
    • The portside shell expansion represents structural objects (stiffeners, deck…) in nearside mode (shown line mode).
  • If the hull surface is oriented along negative X then it’s vice versa.