Irregular Definitions

Not all transverses, longitudinals, decks or compartments that can exist in a ship arrangement, conform to the topological definitions described above; for instance cylindrical compartments. For these irregular definitions, it is possible through the general modelling functionality of Surface/Compartment to create them as general surfaces.

Then the general surface entity’s type can be modified to act as a compartment, deck, or bulkhead. It is your responsibility to ensure that the characteristics of the general surface match that of the target entity type.

To modify an entity’s type use the Full View tree to select an entity (usually a surface), then select one of the pop-up menu items COPY TO... or CHANGE TO... (Copying an entity retains the original entity, which can be useful if it needs altering in the future.) The Object Conversion Dialog appears and allows the required entity type to be selected. for further information see Object Conversion.

This has several implications, these are discussed below.

1. Internal bulkheads and decks are no longer restricted to simple planes. However this means that if the resultant bulkhead/deck is non-planer it cannot be shifted via the internal surfaces editor dialog. Instead these surfaces must be shifted via general transformations.

2. If a patch is converted to an internal surface then it will be trimmed to the outline of the body which is currently defined as the envelope. To avoid trimming problems it is suggested that you make any surface which he intends to trim to a bulkhead a little larger in all directions than the envelope’s extreme dimensions with which it will be trimmed.

3. If a body (for example a patch) is converted to a compartment then it will not have any topological definition. This means that it cannot be regenerated by the system and so you would need to recreate it if changes to the model were necessary.