NAPA Release 2023.1

The first NAPA Release of 2023 is now live!

All the changes in the software can be found in the NAPA Release Notes 2023.1 document, which is available in NAPAnet, with the installation packages.

NAPA Release 2023.1 highlights:

• Upgraded user experience in hull form design
• More efficient loading condition management
• Towards detailed design-oriented structural design tools
• Making 3D design and finite element analysis even more seamless and efficient

Hull Form Design

The transformation of user experience for hull form design was started a while ago, by hosting the hull form design toolset in the interactive modeling interface NAPA Designer. The latest updates complete the package, supporting hull form design from the concept to the production design stages. The latest updated focus is on the usability of tools, visualization and analysis of the surface characteristics. We have taken some of the most appreciated functionality from classic NAPA, upgraded and re-invented them on NAPA Designer.

Hull sections visualizing surface curvature in NAPA Designer

Hydrostatics and Stability Calculations

Defining a lightweight is easier and better than ever. The new functionality offers a lightweight definition in several different ways, including dimensional weight distributions and grouped lightweight elements. The interface helps user to control the lightweight definition accurately, by a real-time visualization and intuitive functionality. The longitudinal strength limits can be also now defined and modified with a specific editor in NAPA Designer.

Lightweight editor of loading conditions in NAPA Designer

By introducing a new label concept, the management of loading conditions has become straightforward, ensuring consistency of calculation control. The label concept will be connected also in future releases to the loading rules and other automation helping to define even hundreds of loading conditions at once. The first version of the label concept is being used to control the calculation settings and loading condition grouping.

Labeled loading conditions in NAPA Designer

Structural Design

Towards detailed design

Beyond basic structural design, we’ve implemented various improvements to meet the demands for detailed structural design. One notable addition is the automatic section annotation tool. When designing detailed parts, annotation information can provide crucial insights to the designer. The display of profile, material, material side, plate thickness, stiffener spacing, etc. can be easily switched.

Section annotation tool in NAPA designer

The new selection filter feature allows users to limit the selected structural information, contributing to the efficiency of detailed structural modeling, such as changing the scantling of particular members. We have been making improvements to be able to model all structural members required in detailed structural design. This release supports double plates placed under pillars.

Double plate in NAPA Designer

Finite Element (FE) analysis

Improvements in FE meshing capabilities now allow for the creation of FE models based on any selected block, enabling swift block-specific analyses (e.g., block lifting analysis). Moreover, the new Stiffener lumping feature provides a new idealization option, particularly useful when performing analyses with large mesh sizes such as web spaces. We’ve also introduced the concept of the FEM Output model to facilitate final adjustments before transferring the created FE model to external FE analysis software.

The process of reflecting FE analysis results back into the 3D model can now be automated. After importing the post-analysis FE model (Nastran Bulk Data) from external software, differences in plate thickness can be directly reflected in the NAPA 3D model. This reduces inefficiencies and human errors associated with manual work, ensuring data consistency and leading to a more streamlined structural design process.

FEM results back in NAPA Designer

Thank you for reading!