Does Mecway have the ability to apply a ramp force?

J_Marc

Hi,

I was unable to locate where or how Mecway can apply a ramp force. Could someone help me locate this function or assist in any way to express it in the software. I have attached a simple sketch as a visual aid. I have posted a possible problem such as a steel plate lying on the ground. For argument sake lets take a 50mm plate, 2m wide and 9m long with a maximum ramp force of 981kN applied over 6m. Can we enter an equation with gradient for a ramp force?

Victor

Hello J_Marc

While there isn't an equation input for this, you can achieve it using the hydrostatic pressure load. That applies a trapezoidal force but you have to work backwards to calculate the parameters. For example:

Maximum linear pressure = 981kN/m (I assume 981k is the maximum force per length, not total force).
Maximum pressure = 981kN/m / 2m = 490.5 kPa
Find the fluid density that would have this pressure at a depth of 6m:
P = density * g * h
490.5kPa = density * 9.81m/s^2 * 6m
density = 8333 kg/m^3

So you can use this density value, along with gravity with x component = -9.81m/s^2 for the hydrostatic pressure load in Mecway.

This method starts to get a bit impractical when you actually want to use gravity for the structure too, or when there are multiple ramp loads in different directions. In those cases you might need to use a sequence of uniform loads to approximate it.

J_Marc

Thank you!

cashan

Hi.

Ramp loads are absolutly "must be". I am working as naval architect and we have many cases where many different pressures are appled to different plates (other one ad ship side, oter one are at internal tanks, different as wind at deck equipment etc.) in one model in the same time. There are cant be modelled as "hydrostatcic pressure" defined as is in MW... Pls consider it in next release .

Victor

Yes. Version 4 will have a pressure load which you can define by a formula as a function of x,y,z,t. So you can make a wide range of pressure distributions and combine them. I expect to release a beta version in the next few days.

cashan

Wow! Rev. V4 is a good news . Do you plan change API to bit more modern too ?

Victor

What do you mean by API? There's no documented Application Program Interface. In case you mean having a ribbon instead of menus and toolbars then yes, I do expect to do that, maybe for the next version.

cashan

Ups.. You're right - I think about GUI .. Sorry for misunderstanding .

[Deleted User]

Victor,

Please don't do a Microsoft style ribbon GUI, I can't stand those. They take up more display space and make it take more clicks to do things.

Sergio

I agree... but we are in 2015/6, is what interfaces "should" look to don't see as retrograd. Maybe Victor can manage to get few ribbons with separated tools like File, Mesh, BC and Postprocess.

Regards

Victor

Yeah, ribbons are important for credibility :P I think they can be done both well or badly. I'm conscious of the too many clicks problem (MS Paint) and will certainly try not to make things worse for the overall experience.

[Deleted User]

I have to disagree about ribbon interface adding credibility. A nice GUI adds credibility. People implementing the ribbon interface are just copying Microsoft's terrible idea. Just because everyone else jumps off a cliff doesn't mean you have to. There are plenty of excellent FEA packages that do not use the ribbon interface. I don't use a single program that has that interface. Microsoft is the last company you should be referring to for good ideas. The best GUI out there is MoI, an excellent CAD package. Michael created it out of his own imagination and it is incredible. I would hate to see you implement a ribbon interface. What happens when Microsoft goes to the next horrible idea they cook up or steal, are you going to blindly copy that as well? Come on man.

Victor

Can you clarify what you don't like about ribbons? MoI's UI seems quite similar to a ribbon, at least in the sense of having groups of related buttons and labels under them.

Mecway does look dated and the menu-and-toolbar UI came at a time when most people had smaller screens. By making use of more screen space, I think it can be made easier to find things whether that's with a ribbon, MoI style "toolbars", just putting labels under the icons or something else.

[Deleted User]

hi victor,

yes i realize mecway looks dated. but for that matter so is the website. so if you are worried about people not giving mecway a try based on looks alone, then the website would be a logical first step. i hope fea users are smart enough to realize looks alone don't mean much. but i am all for a refreshed gui.

the ribbon gui i am thinking of is the standard microsoft ribbon. it is just huge. you usually have to minize it and maximize it to get it out of the way, so right off extra clicks. then you are left hunting for what tab a given icon is on, more clicks. etc... basically they are just too darn big and add extra clicks. i don't see the need to lable groups and put groups on tabs etc... toolbars are already naturally grouped so naming them and putting them on tabs adds no value at all. ansys and other fea programs sometimes only have toolbars show up when they can be used. that is a much better way to go in my opinion. i also like bigger clear icons with text. so it is easy to find the icon you want. this is something the moi gui does very well. you can download a free copy to see the gui. but in moi i would say the icons are probably too big if anything. a lot of users really enjoy customizing a gui. they like to be able to add and remove icons and toolbars change colors and so forth. so if you were trying to please the most people i think a gui that can be customized would be good. lastly a multi platform software package is always asked for. people like to be able to use linux, apple, and microsoft. so strictly using a microsoft gui kills any cross platform compatibilty. i love mecway and your development efforts. sorry if i was too harsh about this one issue. but i just really think a microsoft ribbon, even if spruced up, would be a horrible decision. i mean how much can you polish a turd?

[Deleted User]

i should add my screen is 1366x768 resolution, regardless of monitor size it is a small amount of info that can be shown. i can't use comsol for instance because the gui is so huge. microcfd can't be used either. depending how a program is written can make a low resolution screen unusable. i plan on getting a new laptop but most of the ones i am looking at still have a 1366x768 screen res.

Sergio

Hi, I use several programs along the day, and as Mecway is not the more used I cannot remember well the icon functions, so I finish using the menu or contextual menus to find the right function. I know what I need to do, but having a small text bellow the icon would save a lot of time, and maybe others too. Obviously this ribbon will need more screen space, but I felt that for today resolutions is not a problem. Also Mecway doesn't have so much functions to not fit in two or three ribons, so would not be a problem like Excel that has loose several functions on the change from classic to ribbon UI.

Regards

Victor

Good points there prop_design. Screen space is a tricky one and I'll definitely take that into consideration. Your suggestion of customization is probably needed already and could deal with conflicting requirements. Non-regular users definitely need something clearer than just icons, as Sergio pointed out.

As to being locked into MS. That's unfortunately already the case because Mecway depends on winforms and Direct3D which are not available on other platforms, besides VMs and emulation (Wine). I'd love to be able to port it to other OSs without too much rewriting but this is, well, vendor lock-in

[Deleted User]

LibreOffice has some nice options as far as customizing all the icons. Basically themed icon sets. I know in MoI customization is something people have been hacking as it wasn't built in. A lot of people like a dark GUI like Adobe products and others. So they want to change the color scheme. If you were able to add a lot of customization options that would alleviate headaches later. Having different size icons available is an option too. Small, medium, large etc... With FEA it is easy and natural to just show the icons needed at the time. Pre-processing, Solving, and Post-Processing. So that frees up a lot of space as well. Everything doesn't need to be shown at the same time.

jbmag

I'm actually currently saving up to buy Mecway's license and if the feedback is any use at all I think having a ribbon GUI would actually be a deal breaker for me! These pretty things are great for consumer products, but a lot of times they come at the cost of efficiency and clarity of use. A total GUI revamp is a pretty non-trivial task when it comes to maintaining usability.

As professionals, we expect tools to do their job. From what I see from the trial license: could the interface look better? Sure. But that doesn't say much about how it's designed. Craiglist is still arguably an extremely well designed site but looks like 1998.

Just my 2 cents

VMH

I feel that one bad thing about ribbons is taking up screen space where Victor is aware of this. Mecway has advance quite amazingly in just one year. I believe that Victor will continue to advance Mecway even further making it even better.

davefo

if ribbon interface is implimented i think it should be optional and customisable like in autocad wher you can opt to use classic menu mode or ribbon. I personaly hated ribbons when they first came out in office etc because i couldn't find the command i wanted. I still struggle finding commands sometimes