Hi -

Before starting an actual build of a project i want to build a 3D model of it to test it's construction - get it's total weight - see if it will actually float. See how sails react to wind etc etc.

Is it possible to give parts actual weights and hardnesses of the real world matterials?

ie: i know the hardness of a treated pine 2x4. the flex etc. can i give those attributes to a simulated 2x4 in Blender 3D?

And after combining all the parts - will it give an overall weight?

And if i create water to float this model in will it give and act as it would real world?

I may not be describing what i'm asking the best way - i hope you understand what i mean though.

I want to build it to scale in Blender 3D get a total weight of the final realworld model. and displacement. carrying capacity.
- put it in the water both salt and fresh - see how well it floats
- put a wind force at it - maybe some ruff water conditions
and see what it will do, how well it will fair
how it floats
what it can carry and then make corrections before actually building it.

can i do this in Blender or do i need to use a CAD software specifically for this type modeling/model design work?

I thought one could but want to be sure...

and if so - where can i get all the info my brain can soak up on how to do so in v2.57?

tia
chase

any answer on the above question

- please...

Hello.

I understand your requirements.Unfortunately Blender isn't a mature software for doing all these realtime stuff.The force fields available in blender work on limited set of objects and the physics computations aren't all that perfect.

Blender cant estimate volume of bodies as of now.Regarding weights, you may assign weights but there's no way to get the total weights

Fluid computations are very very very limited.All these simulation options aren't up to engineering requirements.They are useful only for animation purpose only.

Unless you are ready to invest in people to develop all these features dont use blender.
I suggest this to you as an engineer.

Nothing that cannot be done with some CAD software along with a bit of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and some Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).

But Blender, being 3D animation software, is not the tool for the job - unless you are prepared for some mad pytyhon scripting. In which case, scipy and numpy might be your buddies.

Not to mention, fem requires immense computational power.So obviously one must write the FEM part in c and integrate it to blender via python.This is way too trouble some.Even I'm interested in this stuff.

Once I complete my core subjects of my engineering(Mechanical) I wish to implement all such stuff onto blender and submit as my FEM computer project.

Quote:

So obviously one must write the FEM part in c and integrate it to blender via python.

One of the interesting things about Python and one of the reasons we chose it for Blender's scripting languge, is that it is relatively easy to extend the language by integrating C/C++ code or libraries. We do this with Blender already as do the numpy and scipy groups for numerical and scientific calculations.

simtron wrote:

Hello. I understand your requirements.Unfortunately Blender isn't a mature software for doing all these realtime stuff.The force fields available in blender work on limited set of objects and the physics computations aren't all that perfect. Blender cant estimate volume of bodies as of now.Regarding weights, you may assign weights but there's no way to get the total weights Fluid computations are very very very limited.All these simulation options aren't up to engineering requirements.They are useful only for animation purpose only. Unless you are ready to invest in people to develop all these features dont use blender. I suggest this to you as an engineer.

Hmmm.. i sware i saw tutorial on how to do something similair to this in Blender a few years back...

it was a rather basic tutorial but - it showed a ball in water and how to assign say to the ball 7mmm thickness to a 12 inch ball made of i don't know say - polyethelyne - ball park the weight and then float it in a liquid of say salt water at 8.3 salinity and it would actually float the ball with the correct displacement in the water plane. Then it went into adding a wind of so many knots - current of the water and showed a video of the outcome...

perhaps it wasn't Blender after all - though i thought for sure it was.
but if you all agree and you all would know better than i on this subject.
then so be it.

So what 3D animation software can do this?

LW? Real Flow?

I wanted to make it into a usable model as well and animate it - no sense in making it in 3D and not using it for something cool i felt.

But as well - i need all the other to actually make the thing once it's tested in a 3D enviorment.

btw - forgot my manners
- thanx for the replies to all

chase