I am in my 2nd year in scientific prep and I have to model on solidwoks the influence of a pendulum keel on the heel angel of a boat (the angle between the mast and the sea). I then simulated on meca3d a pivot between the keel and the boat and a pivot between the sea and the boat to simulate only l. But that's my problem! I don't know how to get results. I know that I have to create a dynamic study but meca3d tells me that there are still unknown actions, and then I can't simulate the water in any way that the "boat floats"
There are 2 (or 3) forces that are exerted on the boat:
- the weight P of the boat applied to the point G (which can be separated between the weight of the hull P1 and the weight of the keel P2)
- the Archimedean thrust -P applied to the point B
- and possibly the transverse thrust due to the wind
With the help of solidworks you can cut the hull of the boat by a horizontal plane to find the volume of water displaced. (vary the distance from this plane until the volume of the submerged hull multiplied by the density of the water is equal to the weight of the boat) The center of gravity of this volume will give you the position of point B.
Normally the keel must be included for the calculation of this volume, but to simplify the study it can be considered as a point mass and weight P'2 = P2 - volume of the keel * density of the water.
Note: point B moves when the boat is heeling. So the previous method must be repeated for each angle of heel.
Then you have to add up the moments to find the point of balance. If the wind is not considered, equilibrium is reached when point B is vertical to point G.
Or find the quadratic moment of this surface with the "section information" tool of solidworks and calculate the distance of the metacenter. See this link for more information: Metacentre