Introduction to FAST

Madrid, October 31, 2017

José Azcona jazcona@cener.com
1. Introduction
• Fully coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic
interaction
• Wind-Inflow:
• discrete events
• turbulence
• Waves:
• regular, irregular
• Aerodynamics:
• induction
• rotational augmentation
• skewed wake
• dynamic stall
• Hydrodynamics:
• scattering
• radiation
• hydrostatics
• Structural dynamics:
• gravity / inertia
• elasticity
• foundations / moorings
Source: NREL
• Control system:
• yaw, torque, pitch
1. Introduction

Aerodynamics: BEM
Cl, Cd, Cm
a, a’

Structural dynamics: modal/FEM

Hydrodynamics: Morison Equation

 1. Introduction

• FAST (Fatigue, Aerodynamics,

structural and Turbulence)
• National Renewable Energy Lab.
(NREL)
• Open source and free
http://wind.nrel.gov/codes/
• Includes documentation, theory
and manuals
 1. Introduction

• Large and small wind turbines

• Onshore
• Offshore (Fixed & floating)
• 2 or 3 blades
• Upwind or downwind rotor
1. Introduction

Preprocessors Simulators Postprocessors

AirfoilPrep AeroDyn FAST-HydroDyn

MLife
Airfoil Data Aerodynamics Elastics
Fatigue loads

IECwind MExtreme
No turbulent Ultimate loads

TurbSim
FF Wind Files

Modes
Blade and tower
modes

WAMIT
Hydro Data
 1. Introduction

• AirfoilPrep: preprocessor for airfoil data to be

used in FAST

• IECWind: generation of non-turbulent wind files

• TurbSim: generation of turbulent (NTM, ETM,

EWM) wind files

• Modes: calculation of modes for tower and

blades

• Wamit: computation of hydrodynamic

coefficients for floating platforms
2. Input Files

Primary Input File (.fst)

Blades Tower Aerodyn Platform

Files(.dat) File(.dat) Files(.ipt) File(.dat)

Wind Airfoil Files

File(.wnd) (.dat)
 2. Input Files

• Format of FAST input files

• Text format that can be modified in any text editor

Value of the Name of the Variable description

parameter parameter
 3. Primary File
Portion of the Primary Input File (Turbine configuration)
---------------------- TURBINE CONFIGURATION -----------------------------------
63.0 TipRad - The distance from the rotor apex to the blade tip (meters)
1.5 HubRad - The distance from the rotor apex to the blade root (meters)
1 PSpnElN - … partial-span pitch … [1 to BldNodes] [CURRENTLY IGNORED] (-)
0.0 UndSling - Undersling length … (meters) [unused for 3 blades]
0.0 HubCM - Distance from rotor apex to hub mass [positive downwind] (meters)
-5.01910 OverHang - Distance from yaw axis to rotor apex [3] or teeter pin [2] (meters)
1.9 NacCMxn - Downwind distance from the tower-top to the nacelle CM (meters)
0.0 NacCMyn - Lateral distance from the tower-top to the nacelle CM (meters)
1.75 NacCMzn - Vertical distance from the tower-top to the nacelle CM (meters)
87.6 TowerHt - Height of tower above ground level or MSL (meters)

Layout of a Conventional, Upwind,

3-Bladed Turbine
 3. Primary File
---------------------- FEATURE FLAGS -------------------------------------------
True FlapDOF1 - First flapwise blade mode DOF (flag)
True FlapDOF2 - Second flapwise blade mode DOF (flag)
True EdgeDOF - First edgewise blade mode DOF (flag)
False TeetDOF - Rotor-teeter DOF (flag) [unused for 3 blades]
True DrTrDOF - Drivetrain rotational-flexibility DOF (flag)
True GenDOF - Generator DOF (flag)
False YawDOF - Yaw DOF (flag)
True TwFADOF1 - First fore-aft tower bending-mode DOF (flag)
True TwFADOF2 - Second fore-aft tower bending-mode DOF (flag)
True TwSSDOF1 - First side-to-side tower bending-mode DOF (flag)
True TwSSDOF2 - Second side-to-side tower bending-mode DOF (flag)
True CompAero - Compute aerodynamic forces (flag)
False CompNoise - Compute aerodynamic noise (flag)

---------------------- INITIAL CONDITIONS --------------------------------------

0.0 OoPDefl - Initial out-of-plane blade-tip displacement (meters)
0.0 IPDefl - Initial in-plane blade-tip deflection (meters)
0.0 TeetDefl - Initial or fixed teeter angle (degrees) [unused for 3 blades]
0.0 Azimuth - Initial azimuth angle for blade 1 (degrees)
12.1 RotSpeed - Initial or fixed rotor speed (rpm)
0.0 NacYaw - Initial or fixed nacelle-yaw angle (degrees)
0.0 TTDspFA - Initial fore-aft tower-top displacement (meters)
0.0 TTDspSS - Initial side-to-side tower-top displacement (meters)
 4. AeroDyn File
NREL 5.0 MW offshore baseline aerodynamic input properties; Compatible with AeroDyn v12.60h.
SI SysUnits - System of units used for input and output [must be SI for FAST]
BEDDOES StallMod - Dynamic stall included [BEDDOES or STEADY] (unquoted string)
USE_CM UseCm - Use aerodynamic pitching moment model? [USE_CM or NO_CM]
DYNIN InfModel - Inflow model [DYNIN or EQUIL] (unquoted string)
3 max_r_power - Max polynomial power in radial direction (-) [max 22]
3 m_modes - Number of modes in azimuthal direction (-) [max 22]
0.679061 tau_GDW - Time constant for GDW (-)
SWIRL IndModel - Induction-factor model [NONE or WAKE or SWIRL] (unquoted string)
0.005 AToler - Induction-factor tolerance (convergence criteria) (-)
PRANDtl TLModel - Tip-loss model (EQUIL only) [PRANDtl, GTECH, or NONE]
PRANDtl HLModel - Hub-loss model (EQUIL only) [PRANdtl or NONE]
"WindData\NoShr_8.wnd" WindFile - Name of file containing wind data
90.0 HH - Wind reference (hub) height [TowerHt+Twr2Shft+OverHang*SIN(ShftTilt)] (m)
True TwrPotent - Calculate tower potential flow (flag)
False TwrShadow - Calculate tower shadow (flag)
True TwrRead - Read in filename below even if above is False
"NRELOffshrBsline5MW_AeroDyn_Tower_Monopile.dat" TwrFile - Tower drag file name
1.225 AirDens - Air density (kg/m^3)
1.464E-5 KinVisc - Kinematic air viscosity [CURRENTLY IGNORED] (m^2/sec)
0.02479 DTAero - Time interval for aerodynamic calculations (sec)
8 NumFoil - Number of airfoil files (-)
"AeroData\Cylinder1.dat" FoilNm - Names of the airfoil files
"AeroData\Cylinder2.dat"
"AeroData\DU40_A17.dat"
"AeroData\DU35_A17.dat"
"AeroData\DU30_A17.dat"
"AeroData\DU25_A17.dat"
"AeroData\DU21_A17.dat"
"AeroData\NACA64_A17.dat"
 5. Platform File
Extract from platform file

---------------------- FEATURE FLAGS (CONT) ------------------------------------

False PtfmSgDOF - Platform horizontal surge translation DOF (flag)
False PtfmSwDOF - Platform horizontal sway translation DOF (flag)
False PtfmHvDOF - Platform vertical heave translation DOF (flag)
False PtfmRDOF - Platform roll tilt rotation DOF (flag)
False PtfmPDOF - Platform pitch tilt rotation DOF (flag)
False PtfmYDOF - Platform yaw rotation DOF (flag)

---------------------- MASS AND INERTIA (CONT) ---------------------------------

0.0 PtfmMass - Platform mass (kg)
0.0 PtfmRIner - Platform inertia for roll tilt rotation about the platform CM (kg m^2)
0.0 PtfmPIner - Platform inertia for pitch tilt rotation about the platform CM (kg m^2)
0.0 PtfmYIner - Platfrom inertia for yaw rotation about the platform CM (kg m^2)
 5. Platform File
Extract from platform file:
---------------------- TOWER (CONT) --------------------------------------------
1 TwrLdMod - Tower loading model {0: none, 1: Morison's equation,
2: user-defined from routine UserTwrLd} (switch)
6.0 TwrDiam - Tower diameter in Morison's equation (meters) [used only when TwrLdMod=1]
1.0 TwrCA - Normalized hydrodynamic added mass coefficient in Morison's equation (-)
[used only when TwrLdMod=1] [determines TwrCM=1+TwrCA]
1.0 TwrCD - Normalized hydrodynamic viscous drag coefficient in Morison's equation (-)
[used only when TwrLdMod=1]

• WaveMod: wave model

• 0: still water
• 1: Plane progressive (regular)
• WaveTMax: Analysis time for incident wave calculations (sec)
• WaveDT: Time step for incident wave calculations (sec)
• WaveHs: Wave height of incident waves (meters)
• WaveTp: Period of incident waves (sec)
• WaveDir: Incident wave propagation heading direction (degrees)
• 2: JONSWAP/Pierson-Moskowitz spectrum (irregular)
• WaveTMax: Analysis time for incident wave calculations (sec)
• WaveDT: Time step for incident wave calculations (sec)
• WaveHs: Significant wave height of incident waves (meters)
• WaveTp: Peak spectral period of incident waves (sec)
• WavePkShp: Peak shape parameter of incident wave spectrum
• WaveDir: Incident wave propagation heading direction (degrees)
6. Running FAST
• Running FAST
• Command window .
• Name_of_Executable.exe <space> Name_of_Primary_File.fst
• Warnings are shown in window and in error.log

• Output Files
• Summary: FAST (.fsm), AeroDyn (.opt)
• Time series: FAST (.out), AeroDyn (.elm)
 7. Output Files

---------------------- OUTPUT --------------------------------------------------

True SumPrint - Print summary data to "<RootName>.fsm" (flag)
True TabDelim - Generate a tab-delimited tabular output file. (flag)
"ES10.3E2" OutFmt - Format used for tabular output except time. (quoted string)
0.0 TStart - Time to begin tabular output (s)
1 DecFact - Decimation factor for tabular output {1:output every time step} (-)
1.0 SttsTime - Amount of time between screen status messages (sec)

---------------------- OUTPUT --------------------------------------------------

OutList - The next line(s) contains a list of output parameters. (-)
"HorWindV, HorWndDir" - Horizontal hub-height wind speed and direction
"RotSpeed, GenSpeed" - LSS and HSS speeds
"RotPwr, GenPwr" - Rotor and electrical generator power
"NacYaw, BldPitch1, Azimuth" - Nacelle yaw, blade 1 pitch, and rotor azimuth angles
"OoPDefl1, IPDefl1" - OoP and IP tip deflections of blade 1
"TTDspFA, TTDspSS" - FA and SS tower-top displacements
"RootFxb1, RootFyb1, RootFzb1"- Flapwise, edgewise, and axial forces at the root of blade 1
"RootMxb1, RootMyb1" - Edgewise & flapwise bending moments at the root of blade 1
"TwrBsMxt, TwrBsMyt, TwrBsMzt"- Tower base roll, pitch, and yaw moments
END of FAST input file (the word "END" must appear in the first 3 columns of this last line).
 7. Output Files
• FAST summary file
• *.fsm,
• Contains a description of the input data of the case and a summary of the inertial and
mass properties of the system

Rotor mass properties:

Rotor Mass (kg) 2200.608

Rotor Inertia (kg-m^2) 41755.996
Blade 1 Blade 2
------- -------
Mass (kg) 435.304 435.304
Second Mass Moment (kg-m^2) 15434.709 15434.709
First Mass Moment (kg-m) 2120.280 2120.280
Center of Mass (m) 4.871 4.871

Additional mass properties:

Tower-top Mass (kg) 7216.038

Tower Mass (kg) 36907.137
Turbine Mass (kg) 44123.176
Mass Incl. Platform (kg) 44123.176
 7. Output Files
• FAST time series output file
*.out
• Time is always the first column.
• Other output parameters are specified at the end of the primary file

Portion of the Time Series Output File

These predictions were generated by FAST (v4.00, 09-Jul-2002) on 09-Jul-2002 at 09:38:47.

The aerodynamic calculations were made by AeroDyn (12.46, 23-May-2002).

FAST certification test #1 for AWT-27CR2 with many DOFs.

Time uWind Azimuth TeetDefl RootMyc1 RootMxc1 RotTorq YawBrMzn …

(sec) (m/sec) (deg) (deg) (kN•m) (kN•m) (kN•m) (kN•m) …
10.000 1.039E+01 1.180E+01 1.031E+00 3.533E+01 2.039E+01 3.613E+01 -2.280E+00 …
10.020 1.039E+01 1.831E+01 9.697E-01 3.642E+01 2.085E+01 3.558E+01 -1.996E+00 …
10.040 1.039E+01 2.482E+01 8.946E-01 3.632E+01 2.235E+01 3.525E+01 -2.426E+00 …
10.060 1.039E+01 3.134E+01 8.081E-01 3.538E+01 2.447E+01 3.514E+01 -3.286E+00 …
10.080 1.039E+01 3.785E+01 7.116E-01 3.473E+01 2.672E+01 3.517E+01 -4.282E+00 …
10.100 1.039E+01 4.436E+01 6.067E-01 3.503E+01 2.868E+01 3.526E+01 -5.124E+00 …
10.120 1.039E+01 5.088E+01 4.943E-01 3.604E+01 3.011E+01 3.541E+01 -5.681E+00 …
10.140 1.039E+01 5.739E+01 3.751E-01 3.707E+01 3.110E+01 3.565E+01 -5.993E+00 …
10.160 1.039E+01 6.391E+01 2.498E-01 3.759E+01 3.191E+01 3.600E+01 -6.148E+00 …
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