Chapter 3: Data Preparation for the Aqwa Suite

Data input in the Aqwa suite of programs is divided into two or more sections called data categories. All programs in the Aqwa suite have 18 main data categories. However, many of these data categories will not be applicable in normal use. Only in highly specialized applications will the user need knowledge of them all.

The first data category is called the Preliminary Data Category. This supplies the job type, user identification and options (which control the overall administration of the program).

The remaining data categories (referred to as Data Categories 1 to 18) consist of:

A data category header, which tells the program to expect a new category of data with (usually) a different format of input.

One or more data records containing numerical input categorized by the name of the data category keyword, for example:

               _(1) Optional User Identifier (A2) (see Optional User Identifier)
              |
              |         _(2) Compulsory Data Category Keyword (A4) (see Compulsory Data Category Keyword)
              |        |  
              |        |
         2   5|     11 |
       - --- -- ---- ---- ----------------------
      |X|XXX|  |XXXX|COOR|XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  )
       - --- -- ---- ---- ----------------------
      |             .                            )
                    .
      |             .                            )
                    .
      |             .                            ) etc.
       ----------------------------------------
      |              numerical input.....        ) to 80
       ----------------------------------------
      |              numerical input.....        ) columns
       - --- ----------------------------------
      |X|END|        numerical input.....        )
       - --- ----------------------------------
          |
          |
          |
          |_(3) Compulsory END Code (see Compulsory 'END' Statement)

The 'X' characters in columns 1-4, 7-10, etc. indicate that no data is to be input in these columns. Note that the data category keyword for Data Category 1 is 'COOR' (COORdinate positions). The keyword will be different for other data categories.

The precise format for every data record in every data category is given in the following sections:

The Preliminary Data (Data Category 0)

Node Number and Coordinates (Data Category 1)

Element Topology - ELM* (Data Category 2)

Material Properties - MATE (Data Category 3)

Geometric Properties - GEOM (Data Category 4)

Constant Parameters - GLOB (Data Category 5)

Frequency and Directions Table - FDR* (Data Category 6)

Wave Frequency Dependent Parameters and Stiffness Matrix - WFS* (Data Category 7)

Drift Force Coefficients - DRC* (Data Category 8)

Drift Motion Parameters - DRM* (Data Category 9)

Hull Drag Coefficients and Thruster Forces - HLD* (Data Category 10)