ClassNK Releases New PrimeShip-HULL (HCSR) Design Software for Latest Version of IACS Harmonized Rules

4 April, 2013 – Leading classification society ClassNK (Chairman and President: Noboru Ueda) has announced the release of a new version of its PrimeShip-HULL (HCSR) ship design support software. In addition to a variety of new features, the new version incorporates included in the new second draft of the IACS Harmonized Common Structural Rules, or H-CSR, for bulk carriers and oil tankers released on 1 April 2013.

Initially released in July 2012, ClassNK’s PrimeShip-HULL (HCSR) was the world’s first design support software to incorporate the requirements of the new IACS Harmonized Common Structural Rules, and is already used by shipyards and designers in China, Korea, and Japan. The new version of the software not only incorporates the latest changes and amendments found in the second draft of H-CSR, but also features a number of new and improved functions to help ship designers evaluate and implement the new standards.

The new version includes new features to easily interface with and export HCSR calculations to commercial CAD software, among other features designed to greatly reduce the amount of time necessary to carry out the direct strength calculations of all the vessel’s cargo holds as required by the H-CSR. This latest version also incorporates the FEM Pre- and Post-processer from Altair Engineering’s HyperWorks software, one of the world’s leading Computer Assisted Engineering (CAE) software which is used extensively in the aerospace and automotive industries due to its high-performance meshing functions as well as its solver and construction optimization functions.

This new version of PrimeShip-HULL (HCSR) also boasts enhanced modelling functions to simplify the creation of detailed hull construction models, as well as more efficiently carry out rule calculations for not only the central section, but also the bow and aft portions of the vessel. New tools to automatically generate evaluation reports and other improvements to support functions have also been included to improve usability.

Highlighting the importance of the new release, ClassNK Operating Officer Seiichi Gyobu, who has led development of the PrimeShip-HULL (HCSR) said: “The new features in this version have been developed based on feedback from many of Asia’s leading shipyards and designers, and we hope these new and improved features will make it possible for ship designers to easily implement and evaluate the new rules, and more efficiently design bulk carriers and oil tankers in accordance with the H-CSR.”
“As the revision and development of the H-CSR progresses, we will continue to update and improve PrimeShip-HULL (HCSR) in response to changes in the regulation, as well as the needs of shipyards and designers. The response so far has been impressive, and we are confident that this software will become the industry standard once the H-CSR enter force.”