Buoyant Marine Wear Designer Software

I developed this software to assist me with the design of numerous personal flotation devises which included vests, coats and suits. The software allowed me to simulate tests that determine accurate buoyancy configurations and provided me with the ability to shortcut the product development cycle by hundreds of hours.

If you are directly involved with the design, testing and manufacturing of buoyant garments and believe this software may be of use to you, contact me. I do however want to make it very clear that this software is not intended as a substitute for research, development, or human performance testing.

About the software ...
Buoyant Marine Wear Designer is the most powerful and versatile commercially available, design analysis and production monitoring software available for use with buoyant marine devices. Its powerful computing tools aid in the development of technically superior products by greatly enhancing your development options.

The program addresses the following equation for determining buoyancy’s of marine buoyant devices as dictated by the Underwriters Laboratories and Canadian General Standards Board.

where:
Bt Total design buoyancy required for the suit, in newtons.
F Regulatory minimum buoyancy for the suit (F = 69 N)
Qi Fraction of buoyancy provided by the ith material to the applicable regulatory minimum buoyancy of the suit.
Ri Foams having V factors of 94 or more Ri = 0.94 Foams having V factors of less than 94 Ri = Vfactor/100 (V factor is a value that expresses the foams ability to retain buoyancy).
n

Number of materials used in the suit.

The program is written in a manner that:

  1. Develops a critical path through product design and modification while offering complete design freedom within the rigid parameters of testing laboratories and approval authorities.
  2. Produces accurate documents to assist you through the development phase of your project or to accompany the device at time of submission for approval.
  3. Monitors the manufacturing functions of the device once in production.
  4. It performs quickly and efficiently, while allowing you to move smoothly through the progression of design.
The software generates a far more productive and efficient environment for your design staff to work in. The once tedious calculations for PFD analysis may now be entered, processed, modified and quickly diagnosed leaving the designer free to perform the more demanding phases of research, development and testing. For example, during a recent project, two hours with Buoyant Marine Wear Designer generated the equivalent of a month of calculations as performed in the traditional manner.

Buoyant Marine Wear Designer ensures that your devices are precisely manufactured well within certified limits without material redundancies. This, of course, is directly related to substantial savings over long production runs.

Production benefits from the speed and accuracy of daily buoyancy dip tank results. In moments you can process the mandatory production dips through the worksheet, ensuring the quality of the device.

Click the image to view a 1100 x 855 pixel graphic of the Operational Flow Chart of the program. The file is 93 KB, and will require some time for loading.

Features

  1. View or print many preset reports that give critical insight to the project. All reports are detailed and suitable for submission of the device for further laboratory testing and Coast Guard approval.
    1. The actual worksheet containing data for the device.
    2. A concise one page analysis summary of the device.
  2. View a variety of graphs comparing buoyancy and thickness data for the device. These graphs may be printed with control over fonts, orientation, colour and output.
  3. Maintain a through database of measured dips. View summaries of your database instantly.
  4. User files for each of the devices are stored separately and may be read by testing laboratories and approval authorities equipped with the program.
  5. Work in either Metric or Imperial units of measure and maintain the ability to toggle from one to the other.
  6. Data input validation makes it easier to keep incorrect data out of your files.
  7. Context sensitive help.
  8. Password protection keeps unauthorized personnel from making changes that affect the device, but still allow production information to be entered.

BUOYANT MARINE WEAR DESIGNER functions in two environments... Statistical and Measured Mode.

Statistical Mode
The statistical mode is used as you create and analyze the prototypical device under a wide range of testing scenarios based on processing and analyzing.

  1. Database records for buoyancy and thickness of each foam type.
  2. Thickness tolerance for each foam type.
  3. Physical characteristics and location of the various inserts.
  4. Calculated buoyancy losses due to assembly.

Measured Mode
The measured mode is used to process and analyze data obtained by performing the required production measured buoyancy dips. This data is compared to the original device. Should an error be revealed, the program will pinpoint the fault, typically a sub-standard section of foam or human error in recording the dip tank results.

In either mode, weak spots and errors in the device are identified using the DIAGNOSTIC or BUOYANCY ANALYSIS functions. Detailed information about any aspect of your device is readily available.

Immediate Start Up
Your next project may take advantage of the many design analysis functions and cost saving features available with the Buoyant Marine Wear Designer software. It's preset screen layouts and familiar industry terminology make start up a cinch.

  1. Use data from your existing database or easily create them as required.
  2. Defaults for your companies methods, i.e. Lot #s, Work Order #s, company name, unit of measure are custom structured for your use.

Whether you are producing products for the markets of the United States or Canada, Buoyant Marine Wear Designer will become a powerful tool in your research and development facilities.

Standards supported by Buoyant Marine Wear Designer

USA
UL 1123 Marine Buoyant Devices
CANADA
CAN/CGSB-65-11-M88 - Personal Flotation Devices
CAN/CGSB-65-15-M88 - PFD's for Children
CAN/CGSB-65-07-M88 - Life Jackets, Inherently Buoyant Type