Orcina news

Upcoming in OrcaFlex 10.2: Coupled object modal analysis

Continuing our series of posts on upcoming developments for version 10.2, we now move to an important enhancement to modal analysis. This development has aspects in common with another new feature, line statics policy, which we have discussed in an earlier post. OrcaFlex modal analysis calculates modes for individual lines or for the entire system. […]

Upcoming in OrcaFlex 10.2: Undo

We have somewhat neglected our series of posts on upcoming developments for version 10.2 of late, mostly because we have been working flat out on some new features. In this post we will cover multi-level undo and redo in the user interface.

Upcoming in OrcaFlex 10.2: Line statics policy

Continuing our series of posts on upcoming developments for version 10.2, we look at some enhancements to static analysis. Version 10.0 relaxed the rules for connecting objects together, one aspect of which was allowing lines to be connected to other lines. This new flexibility had a number of consequences for static analysis of lines. In […]

Upcoming in OrcaFlex 10.2: Compound properties report

Continuing our series of posts on upcoming developments for version 10.2, we will take a look at a relatively simple, yet frequently requested enhancement to model building. Complex structures are often modelled in OrcaFlex using multiple objects that are connected together. A common example would be a manifold modelled using a combination of lumped buoys […]

Distributed OrcaFlex 6.0a released

We have just released Distributed OrcaFlex 6.0a which you can download from the Distributed OrcaFlex web page. The significant change introduced in this release is the ability to run more than one Distributed OrcaFlex (DOF) Client process on the same computer. The motivation for the change is to support machines with very large numbers of […]

Upcoming in OrcaFlex 10.2: Documentation

Continuing our series of posts on upcoming developments for version 10.2, we will now turn to some functionality entirely outside of the program, namely the documentation. OrcaFlex is an ever growing program, and as it grows, so too does the documentation. For version 10.2, we decided to make a number of significant changes to the […]

Upcoming in OrcaFlex 10.2: Vessel calculation mode

As mentioned in a recent post here, we are going to publish a series of articles introducing some of the new features being developed for release in version 10.2. This article is the first of that series, discussing a new vessel option that allows users to make a choice between two methods for the interpretation […]

Mooring Chain Bending Fatigue (following Bureau Veritas Guidance Note NI 604 DT R00 E)

Mooring line fatigue damage normally considers only tension load cycles. However, sometimes the mooring chain immediately adjacent to the fairlead (the ‘Top Chain’) can experience significant in-plane and out-of-plane bending which causes additional fatigue damage. BV guidance note Fatigue of Top Chain of Mooring Lines due to In-plane and Out-of-plane Bendings, [NI 604 DT R00 […]

OrcaFlex Development plans for 10.2 and beyond

In the past we have not been very expansive about our development plans for OrcaFlex – usually nothing more than a short bullet list on our website. We’d like to engage more with our users about upcoming OrcaFlex developments. This post is intended to kick-start us in that direction. But before we get into the details, […]

Less Common Applications for OrcaFlex

OrcaFlex is primarily used in the offshore oil and gas industry, typically for installation analysis and in-place design of riser and mooring systems, pipelay analysis, field construction, etc., as well as being widely used in the oceanographic community. However, OrcaFlex is an extremely versatile package, and over the years we have seen it used for […]