The Panel

The fundamental element in 3D modelling within Planar Hull Modelling is the panel. The panel serves several purposes. One is being the primary data storage container. It is the panel that is activated, created, stored and skipped. The panel manifest itself as an object in the SB_OGDB data bank. Panels in turn are collected in blocks but the handling of blocks within Planar Hull Modelling is limited to picking a block to which the panel should belong when creating a new panel.

Another purpose of the panel is to be the modelling context of the components created within it. The components can be for example, seams, plates, stiffeners and brackets. The full range of components available in 3D panel modelling is covered by the description of the design language below. The panel always has a plane defined locating the main plating and a closed contour limiting it, called the boundary. Implicit references to both the plane and the boundary are frequently done during 3D modelling. for example, a stiffener is always attached to the plate surface and often "connects" to the boundary of the panel.

The components generated are organized in groups. The components within one group are of the same type and share most qualities except for for example, the physical placement on the panel. When changing or deleting components it is actually the group that is affected. Of course the group can contain only one component as a special case.

Although the panel object is the main data container there is a complementary way of describing a panel. This is done via an ordinary text file using a design language. The text file describing one panel is called an input scheme. The design language can express all the qualities of the panel in a very comprehensive and perspicuous way. An input scheme file and a panel object are equal in the sense that they describe the panel completely. It is also possible to derive the input scheme from the panel as well as establish the panel object from the input scheme.