Develops flat plates from 3 dimensional DXF boundary lines of plates with curvature in one axis only. This is probably the only free program you will see to do this extremely complex task. This tool is included in the Modeller, so only download this if you're certain that you don't need a modeller as well!
The program is particularly suited to the creation of the profiles of multi-chine boats, and the image below shows the results of developing the flat plate of a Bruce Roberts Spray 36 sailing boat sole plate.
Description.
The Plate Development Program is a Windows based program designed to crate a flat plate based on a DXF file input from a 3D outline of a plate curved in one direction only - where the plate is designed to drape over formers with no appreciable stretching of the plate in any direction. The output of the program is a DXF file of the flattened plate.
Download
There are two downloads for this program, a Windows 32 bit graphical program and a faster running DOS program. As is the case with DOS programs, it's much harder to use, but a great deal smaller in download size. I leave it up to you to decide which to download. The Windows version is included as one of the ancilliary tools in the 3D Modelling Studio, so there is no need to download this program if you have that one already.
Download the Windows Installshield Installation package here:
Windows Plate Development Installation, zipped (2.3Mb)
The installation works on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP provided you have administrator rights. I have not tried it on Vista at all. The executable file works on a Windows 7 machine - I have not tried to install it on that machine.
Download the DOS package here:
DOS Plate Development version, zipped (270 kb)
The DOS version works in DOS and in a DOS window in Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 and XP. I have not tried it on Vista or Windows 7 at all.
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