OrcaFlex 8.1
The latest release of OrcaFlex 8.1 is OrcaFlex 8.1b. To upgrade to OrcaFlex 8.1b,
download the following zip file:
OrcaFlex-Patch-8.1a-to-8.1b.zip (893 KB)
and then run the program that the zip file contains.
This patch can only be applied if you are currently using an earlier release of version 8.1.
The new features introduced in OrcaFlex 8.1 are described below. For full details please download the following zip file: FlexHelp.zip (736 KB) and save the files it contains. You can then open the saved .hlp file and open the What's New topic in the Introduction chapter of the contents, and follow the links from there to other parts of the help file.
New in OrcaFlex 8.1b (released November 2002)
Bug fixes
- There was a bug which affected the drag calculation for 6D Buoys which are slaves of Lines or Vessels. Such buoys can arise in a model in 2 ways:
- A 6D Buoy's connection is set to be a Line or a Vessel.
- A Line has an attachment where the Attachment Type is a 6D Buoy.
- OrcFxAPI functions C_GetStaticResult, C_GetStaticResult2, C_GetTimeHistory and C_GetTimeHistory2 were not working for statics-only OrcaFlex.
- When using the VIV Toolbox, the VIV Force was reported incorrectly when the incidence angle was below the cut-off angle. In this situation the VIV Force result was wrongly reporting the force generated by the VIV model, even though that force was correctly being suppressed in the simulation because the incidence angle was below the cut-off angle.
New in Version 8.1a (released September 2002)
New features
- The new optional OrcaFlex module for modelling Vortex Induced Vibration is now available.
- We have done some code optimisation that speeds up simulations. The speed gain depends on the type of computer. On machines that we have tried it varies between 5% and 45%.
- When using a time history file to specify vessel motion, you now have a choice of using linear or cubic spline interpolation. Previous versions of OrcaFlex always used cubic spline interpolation.
- Fatigue analyses can now be run in batch mode and there is a new Estimate Calculation Time facility. Both of these facilities are useful for long fatigue analyses.
- There is now a Set To Default button for the statics convergence parameters.
- The current direction is now shown on the mode view in the modal analysis.
- The mode shape normalisation used by the modal analysis has been changed. Previously the modes were normalised so that the largest offset vector component (in global directions) had magnitude 1. Now the modes are normalised so that the largest offset vector has magnitude 1 (i.e. is a unit vector). The new normalisation has the advantage that it does not depend on the choice of frame of reference.
- Very small numbers in spreadsheet windows are now displayed in engineering notation (they previously appeared as zero).
- During the first pass through a replay, OrcaFlex records each frame so that subsequent passes through the replay can be displayed faster. In previous versions this could sometimes hit operating system memory limits, so to avoid this OrcaFlex now only records the frames if there is sufficient memory.
- OrcaFlex now applies range jump suppression to more angle results than previously.
- The Results spreadsheet can now handle time histories with more than 32767 rows. Note that there is still the Excel limit of 65535 rows in a worksheet.
Bug fixes
- Extremely large replays (ones with more than 32767 frames) did not work correctly in previous versions.
- Dragging and dropping a file onto OrcaFlex is no longer allowed during a statics calculation or when a simulation is active. Version 8.0a accepted the drag and drop but failed to open the file correctly.
- Previous versions failed to find a time history file if it was specified using a relative path. (You had to specify the full path.)