CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
28 June 2004
Company News
CoCreate's History-Free Modeling Software Preserves American History
CoCreate Software, Inc. announced that OneSpace Designer Modeling, CoCreate's 3D modeling software, is contributing to the preservation of an American naval legend, the U.S.S. Constitution.
The Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. The Constitution was built in the 1790s. The 44-gun-rated warship now serves as a naval museum in Boston.
Bill Clarke, a mechanical engineer and designer at an Electronics Manufacturing Service (EMS) provider, uses CoCreate's Designer Modeling to design computers and workstations. When his workday is done, he keeps Designer Modeling running and turns to his work on the Constitution. Since 1995, Clarke has served as a volunteer draftsman to recreate master drawings of the Constitution's design that have either been lost or need to be duplicated for historical record. Each of his drawings takes hundreds of hours. He has logged more than 3,500 hours on these efforts, and his completed drawings go into national archives in Washington, DC as well as into naval periodicals.
Designer Modeling eliminates the need for the sequenced steps that constrain designs. "This may sound funny when we're talking about reconstructing historical naval design, but the last thing I want to worry about is being limited by history-based modeling," said Clarke. "Designer Modeling has enabled me to recreate a complex set of designs over the last eight years on a project where every detail is critical. Without the flexibility of dynamic modeling, I couldn't have accomplished what I have."
Creating the drawings for the Constitution requires working from her original plans, as well as taking her physical measurements. Clarke uses Designer Modeling to create both 3D models and 2D plans of the ship. For example, he physically measures the ship's knees (supporting braces used for strength when two parts are joined), then recreates them in 3D with the help of Designer Modeling. He has also modeled the fighting top platforms at each mast where sharpshooters would fire at enemy vessels.
Such drawings are essential when a historical ship needs repair. To illustrate the importance of accurate drawings, Clarke described a past problem. "Over time, you'll see a ship's keel become 'hogged,' where both its ends droop and pull up the center. If you don't take action, the ship could eventually break in half," he said. "Prior to the 1992-1996 dry dock refit, the Constitution's keel had hogged a good 14 inches, and drawings of her keel with support features were long lost. It was a set of drawings from an archivist for her sister ship, the U.S.S. President, that saved the day with plans for the diagonal riders that contain the keel." He explained that the riders had been taken out during an early renovation of the Constitution, never replaced and totally forgotten. Since adding the diagonal riders back into the ship her hogging has held fast at just over 3 inches.
CoCreate can be found in more than 30 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.cocreate.com/
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