QBlade 2.0.9 beta ----------------- Aerodynamics implemented Aitken Δ² acceleration for bound-gamma fixed-point iteration removed relaxation variable from gamma iteration now using smoothing during blade bound-gamma circulation iteration small changes to OpenCL buffers and kernels supporting the aero solver fixed crash that occurred for reversed VAWT turbines with lift-generating struts unified variable names for struts and blades Structural Dynamics nodes fixed to the ground are no longer automatically created in the global coordinate system fixed ordering of DOFs in STRUT and BLADE CONSTRAINT tables substructure mass tuner now also acts on rigid elements introduced ChLinkOffset to prescribe relative motion between fixed constraints Hydrodynamics changed buoyancy flag from boolean to float factor for gradual buoyancy control can now obtain diffraction and radiation from nonlinear regular waves (first order) fixed time-domain sampling of waves (added missing dc_amplitude) Wave Generation added libGrid2Grid integration to linear waves for HOS-Ocean and HOS-NWT support added Tukey window to FFT sampling of wave data SIL / API SetControlVars now works on turbines without a structural model caught negative turbine indices in the SIL interface improved license-check handling for multi-threaded SIL instances Control Systems added 32-bit Controller Bridge—32-bit; 32-bit Bladed, DTU and TUB libraries load natively File I/O & Results added simulation-time graph to batch export added option to export the full variable list for a simulation or turbine improved file export by buffering streams before writing now buffer cut-plane and velocity-field file writes reworked result-filter function and finished integration of selective-variable storage (reduces memory footprint) improved generation of OpenFAST binary outb files (uses FileID = 4 for long channel names) Stability & Bug Fixes fixed crash that could occur when a .sim file was loaded fixed crash that could occur during program startup improved handling of font rendering across the program improved sizing of creator dialogs reworked debug dialog (stores global variables) improved visualization of the environment “box” Miscellaneous added export of simulation-time graphs to batch export added export buffering throughout cut-plane and velocity-field operations QBlade 2.0.8 beta ----------------- Aerodynamics added airfoil heave and surge acceleration impact to unsteady aero non-circulatory lift now contributes only to aerodynamic forces, not to blade and wake circulation fixed issues with dynamic stall models by taking AoA derivatives from geometric (no induction) total inflow velocities added a new parameter to VAWT blade design: TOFFSET (tangential offset) consistently calculated the core size of the bound circulation based on the panel width added spanwise wake coarsening factor added `FOILMEMBERCOEFF` table for substructures, to assign airfoil polars to substructure members revised nacelle drag calculation fixed bug preventing VAWT simulations with `numblades = 0` added sensor for rotor-averaged inflow, mimicking OpenFAST's RtVAvgxh sensors revisited calculation of Cp, Ct, TSR, inflow, etc., in QTurbineResults with rotor-averaged inflow sensor data Structural Dynamics updated to Chrono 9.0.1 added multi-blade coordinate transformation to modal analysis. added the option to shift guy cable positions in local body coordinate systems when attached to BLD, STR, TRQ, TWR by adding _x_y_z offsets after bodyID in `cabtable` added functionality to constrain mooring line attachment direction using the `MOORCONSTRAINTS` table added functionality to set mooring line stiffness and `neutralStrain` dynamically during a simulation through the SIL API updated `STRUT_BLADE_CONSTRAINTS` and `STRUT_TORQUETUBE_CONSTRAINTS` tables can now define the pitch axis of struts at hub and blade positions with linear interpolation in between feature: Subjoints can now be assigned "fixed" status and will not rotate/translate with floater displacements when the sub ID is set to a negative number added `JOINTROTATION` feature to substructure to globally rotate the substrcture joint positions fixed issues with modal analysis sorting and display of modal frequencies shifted blade position to account for shaftwise distance between the apex of the rotation cone (hub) and blade root (see FAST Users Guide page 19) added `HUBCM` variable to displace the hub mass along the hub.X axis added `ROTFACT` parameter to the structural model to scale the prescribed rotational speed of a slave rotor based on the master rotor, intended for multi-rotor turbines added `YAWOFSET`, `PITCHOFSET` and `AZIOFFSET` parameters to controll the initial conditions of all rotors during a multi-rotor turbine simulation added `AZISPACING` variable to enable modeling of incomplete rotors during installation mooring lines can now also be connected to parts of the turbine structure (blades, struts, tower & torquetube) added functionality for relaxation of mooring systems nodes that are fixed to the ground are not displaced/rotated with the floater's surge, sway, heave, pitch, roll, yaw fixed issues related to the initialization of SUBSTRUCTURE body coordinate systems substructure joints can now be constrained to the free yaw node of the nacelle fixed: now catching crashes that occur during model relaxation through a derivation of the `ChSystem` relaxation function Hydrodynamics added `platform yaw correction` to adjust potential flow database evaluations when the floating structure experiences significant yaw motion radiation files are now loaded even if only `radiationaddedmass` is set to true and `useradiation` is false fixed issue in ADVANCEDBUOYANCY calculations fixed bug in mooring systems when mooring lines are constrained revised and fixed Morison strip theory calculations, particularly for rectangular members Control Systems added `exportResults` function to the SIL interface added ROSCO 2.9.0 controller libraries for Windows and Linux added compatibility with the Extended BLADED controller interface added cross-turbine communication for controller libraries enabled communication between urbine controller WAP array an external controler libraries fixed small issues related to brake events Miscellaneous added export function for modes to the CLI interface updated MannTurb64 to the latest version and included MannTurbGenerator for Unix fully integrated MANN boxes into the DLC generator improved scaling of turbulent MANN boxes added functionality to set the turbine RPM externally in the SIL interface the SIL interface now returns a boolean value when `advanceTurbineSimulation()` is called (false when failed or diverged) added prescribed TSR option to the DLC generator added filters to all graphs: low pass, high pass, band pass, and notch modes added histogram graphs and rainflow count graphs added graph statistics showing min, max, mean, standard deviation, and variance added occurrence probability variable for auto-generated `.sim` files from DLC tables added functionality to automate the generation of screenshots or videos added export function for modes to the CLI interface QBlade 2.0.7 beta ----------------- Structural Dynamics added Timoshenko Beams added Timoshenko FPM 6x6 Beams added Anisotropic damping model added nonlinear stiffness model for mooring lines (to model polyester and nylon ropes) added calculation of blade mass inertia matrix to *Struct Model info* * Added strain to structural sensor outputs added strain to structural sensor outputs added function to automatically export 6x6 blade structural property tables from windIO yaml files added NLDATA tables to define nonlinear distributions (stress/strain, displacement/force, etc...) removed first force value for y=0 from nonlinear spring/damper tables distributed blade added masses now included in blade COG and inertia calculations in *Struct Model info* structural blade and strut beams are now always placed at the user defined elastic center the reference position of the local section coordinate system is now the pitch axis constraints are now defined in the coordinate system of Joint1ID, except for constraints to the fixed ground improved modal analysis and Campbell diagram functionality (QB-EE only) can now visualize real, imag, mag, and phase values after a modal analysis (QB-EE only) fixed evaluation of global rotation displacement for reversed rotors changed: now NACCM, NACINER and HUBINER can be directly specified within one line (6 entries for inertia, 3 for CM position) old keywords NACCMX, NACCMZ, NACYINER are still accepted, but should be replaced eventually fixed issue where external loading data was not assigned for substructure joints fixed issue where external loading was not correctly assigned when a substructure only was simulated Aerodynamics added Dynamic Wake Meandering (DWM) model (mash up between Fast.Farm and HAWC2Farm models) added axial, tangential, and radial aerodynamic force to *Structural Time Graphs* added adaptive relaxation to speed up gamma bound fixed point iteration added *Aerodynamic Strut Graph* type to visualize distribution of aerodynamic variables over struts (VAWT only) finished first working version of WindIO YAML import for airfoil, polars, and blades fixed vortex line core growth model, now correctly working with time offset fixed UBEM to work properly for reversed rotors fixed issue with the reprojection of the moment coefficient before applying NC, attached flow, or DS corrections fixed behavior of the tower shadow model in certain conditions Hydrodynamics added functionality for one-sided Morison drag for improved low-frequency excitation predictions added functionality to assign frequency-filtered axial drag coefficients for improved low-frequency excitation predictions added NBODY>1 feature of WAMIT to substructure definitions for multiple interacting hydro bodies added tangential cable drag coefficient, as optional column in HYDROMEMBERCOEFF tables added options to deactivate individual QTF DOF's (DIFF_INACTIVE_DOF, SUM_INACTIVE_DOF) changed the sign for the definition of the misalignement between wind and waves, when specified via a DLC table fixed issue in the mooring system where buoyancy wasn't accounted for fixed issue with turbine global position and water depth for offshore bottom-fixed turbines fixed issue with read-in functions for RAD and EXC potflow files (incompatible with Windcrete dataset) Wave Generation added nonlinear streamfunction waves and constrained streamfunction waves added functionality to paste streamfunction waves over constrained newWaes added display variable at instantaneous sea level (ISL) changed regular linear waves to now start with a phase shift of 90° changed random number generation to be consistent across different platforms, e.g. Unix/Windows, using Mersenne Twister engine Wind Generation added Mann turbulence generator added Mann generator option to create an "added turbulence" windfield for DWM model added option to create and export windfields from simulations improved behavior of WindFieldGenerator to better conform to IEC standards changed random number generation to be consistent across different platforms, e.g. Unix/Windows, using Mersenne Twister engine Control Systems updated DTU controller to employ original source code and location of the wpData file(s) changed CpCtCq file of ROSCO controller to be defined relative to the controller library fixed issue regarding an incompatibility with older ROSCO controller versions General Improvements improved computational speed for QBlade-CE (~2-3x) improved stability and numerous bug fixes finished import/export functionality for wind farm layouts (QB-EE only) in DLC definition files a cell (or entry) beginning with a hashtag (#) is ignored now (QB-EE only) added new interpolation functions HERMITE, C2 splines and Akima (for structural properties and blade geometry) added functionality to specify the constrained DoF's between struts and blades and struts and the torquetube (VAWT) added visualization of IEA reference coordinate systems to QSimulation module polar Cl and Cn slopes are now obtained via linear regression added libxlnt to read data directly from excel documents added functionality so that "submerged" rotors in an "offshore" simulation get the water velocity, density, and viscosity as inputs for "aerodynamic" load calculations, this enables combined wind-hydro turbine simulations fixed issue in the DLL interface where advanceStructure() and AdvanceAero() were called in the wrong order fixed issue in cut-plane import/export related to timesteps when QSim had "store from time" enabled fixed issue where STORE_SIM was not recognized during ASCII simulation import QBlade 2.0.6.4 beta ------------------- added SUPERELEMENTS to substructure added DLC table export functionality to CLI added DLC table option to optionally contain "loading data" files instead of the linearWaveDefinition files (.lwa) added the possibility to specify JNT_X outputs (position and rotation) for substructures added function to deactivate all machines on a floating license added damping for cables in StrModel and MooringSystem added option to convert QFEM to blade or tower files added total morison force to outputs added granular debug function to SIL interface changed sensorname "Platform Translation/Rotation" --> "Prescribed Translation/Rotation" auto-detection if a valid OpenGL context is existing modified SeabedContact forces, in line with OrcaFlex: https://www.orcina.com/webhelp/OrcaFlex/Content/html/Seabedtheory.htm#ElasticSeabedModelTheory improved constraint bookkeeping, disabling redundant constraints during rampup fixed issues in DLC generator, related to the positioning of bottom fixed offshore turbines fixed catching inf, zero and NaN values in getMeanFreeStream and getFreeStream functions fixed ground constraint for bottom fixed offshore structures fixed lumped system mass and inertia info for MTA's fixed SSL handshake error on AWS machines fixed definition of structural twist angle in the QFEM module fixed losses in BEM were subtracted in MW not kW fixed issue where WINDAUTOSHIFT was not read corretly during .sim file import fixed mooring line hydrodynamics for MHK turbines QBlade 2.0.6.3 beta ------------------- fixed issue where for certains node/member arrangements a substructure could be overconstrained fixed issue where for a substructure only turbine definition NaN inertia values were shown in model overview fixed automatic scene scaling for displaced substructure-only configurations orientations of subjoints and the transition piece can now also be defined by means of consecutive Euler rotations optimizations of OpenCl particle kernels (QBlade-EE) fixed crash of modal analysis of substructure-only configurations (QBlade-EE) fixed issue where the multi-turbine (.mta) ASCII import could crash if some files were missing (QBlade-EE) QBlade 2.0.6.2 beta ------------------- added total morison force to output for substructure members in hydrodyn. time graphs fixed some small issues with the openCl device selection when not in the GUI mode (CLI or SIL) fixed normal calculation for .stl blade export at blade hub and tip end faces added an optional export filter to rearrange/filter the export files that are generated added a getCustomSimulationData function to the SIL interface substructure constraint loads can now be added to the graphs by specifying the constraint with the identifier “CST” added export filter feature to CLI fixed issue where CLI was searching for a “wrong” binary file name QBlade 2.0.6.1 beta ------------------- fixed typos in BEM/DMS analysis power is now always displayed as kW fixed issue with turbine sorting for multi turbine simulations QBlade 2.0.6 beta ----------------- Substructure added MOORLOADS to add buoyancy forces and loads to mooring lines ADDMASS_ functionality was extended so that also diagonal inertia 3xIXX & offdiagonal 3xIXY (in local body coords) can be added to a structure added RECTANGULAR members to the substructure definition, these members can use directional hydro coefficients for the local x and y directions added a new and more consistent table format for MOORELEMENTS and CABLELEMENTS that uses only 6 instead of 7 entries added substructure elements, constraints and spings/dampers to global mooring systems Control / SIL added the functionality to “wire” custom external library and controller data channels from the swap arrays to turbine actions added interface for external controller libraries added function SetExternalAction() to DLL interface to enable highly customized simulations / controllers added visualization of hydrodynamic Morison forces when simulating with the ROSCO controller the “PerfFileName” is now also serialized in the same way as the WPData file for the DTU controller Wave Generation added wave probes to the wave module added constrained embedded wave feature to linear waves added option to merge linear waves Misc turbines (and floater, mooring systems) can now be globally rotated implemented the IAG dynamic stall model added Cn and Ct graphs to polars and 360 polars added feature to assign distributed damping properties for the blade, towers and struts added feature to account for nacelle drag QBlade-EE added aerodynamic damping calculation and damped frequencies to modal analysis (QB-EE only) implemented linearization of buoyancy for modal analysis (QB-EE only) OpenCl: improved kernel performance by ~20% Furthermore, a lot of features and fixes based on community feedback have been implemented in various modules and the overall stability and robustness has been improved. QBlade 2.0.5.2 alpha -------------------- public release of QBlade’s Software in Loop (SIL) interface project files now 100% compatible between EE and CE versions (dedicated EE format is omitted) catching a possible crash that could occur when pressing the “Mode Animation” botton before the simulation has finished fixed issue where an impulsive aerodynamic load was present at the first timestep due to an error in relative velocity initialization fixed an issue in shared mooring systems in substructure files TP_INTERFACE_POS_1 can now also be used instead of TP_INTERFACE_POS (which was omitting the _1 part) QBlade 2.0.5.1 alpha -------------------- LLFVW: bound circulation core size is now defined based on aerodynamic panel width instead of chord fixed a small issue in wake coarsening where the redistribution of shed vorticity could lead to a small induction “jump” default blade discretization type is now COSINE improved evaluation of 360° polar parameters, such as slope, aoa_0, Cl_0 etc… OYE and ATEFlap DS models are now limited to the range of +-50° AoA fixed major issue in implementation of nonlinear p-y curves from now on the version stringis part of the binary files to better distinguish them improved custom data aquisition for python and matlab (SIL) interfaces QBlade 2.0.5.0 alpha -------------------- added blade force in X_c and X_b coordinate systems to the standard outputs added functionality to the assignement of nonlinear springs and dampers for substructures overhauled read-in functionality for WAMIT diffraction and excitation files directionality for 2nd order difference loads now taken into account arbitrary orientations can now be assigned to substructure nodes, substructure node coordinate systems can now be displayed added option to read-in WAMIT .8 files added correct Reynolds number to steady BEM outputs fixed issue where TSR string was set to zero after creating a bladeLoading definition fixed bug that corrupted project files after a polar was edited with “Edit Current Polar Points” and then discarded added optional generator efficiency fixed initial camera view angles for QTurbine and QSimulation modules renamed StrModel variables for aerodynamic and generator power and torque improved import/export functionality of velocity cut-plane definitions fixed broken link to forum added controller SWAP array to getCustomData() function of the DLL interface QBlade 2.0.4.9 alpha --------------------- added CPmin variable to results of the XFoil polar analysis, corrected evaluation of friction drag coefficient from XFoil bugfix: overhauled interface with Xfoil binary which is now working with absolute instead of relative path names bugfix: fixed a crash that occurred when a TDMS object was deleted in the GUI added blade root forces to default sensors added FAST binary format to the avaliable export formats for simulation timeseries fixed issue where when using hubheight inflow files the horizontal inflow angle was not read in properly changed the sign in the definition of the horizontal inflow angle to be in line with the most common convention bugfix: prevent UBEM crashes that occurred at inflow velocity of zero tower bodies, torquetube bodies & strut bodies can now have buoyancy & addedmass & dynamic pressure coefficients assigned to model hydrokinetic turbines. model hydrokinetic turbines as onshore turbines with changed air density QBlade 2.0.4.8 alpha -------------------- chord can now be optimized idependent of twist optimize PROP dialog now hidden during HAWT blade design displaced water volume added to hydrodynamic variables when a simulation is diverging the last 3 timesteps are removed from the data to prevent NaN in data added yaw event to turbine events QBlade 2.0.4.7 alpha -------------------- default sensors added for tower top and nacelle (velocity, acceleration, deflection) fixed issue in DS models that could occur when “bad quality” polar data (such as with negative slope) was used removed structural time integrator selection from SimulationCreatorDialog, HHT is now default fixed issue where the tower drag coefficient was not read from the structural data table fixed issue with the tower shadow model, the position of tower shadow is now the instantaneous position of floating turbine added info for RNA and Tower COG to turbine design module, inertia info displayed now around the global COG when importing TurbSim .inp files the TurbSim console output is now displayed added delete by selection for turbine objects graph data can now be directly copied to clipboard several small gui improvements QBlade 2.0.4.6 alpha -------------------- fixed error where the current yaw angle read from the structural model had the wrong sign fixed error when during import of linear waves from a time series the mean heading angle was read in radians and not degrees added yaw angle to structural outputs added ROSCO 2.4.1 controller library QBlade 2.0.4.5 alpha -------------------- Implemented various checks to prevent users from defining overconstrained nodes during substructure generation that could cause divergence in the structural solver; checking SUBELEMENTSRIGID and SUBCONSTRAINT data tables QBlade 2.0.4.4 alpha -------------------- Bugfix in steady state BEM for HAWTs QBlade 2.0.4.3 alpha -------------------- Fixed an issue in the classical steady state BEM iteration that appeared at large (above optimum) TSR’s. QBlade 2.0.4.2 alpha -------------------- There were issues with the OpenCL.dll under Windows, this dll has been replaced with a more compatible version that should detect OpenCL for most users QBlade 2.0.4.1 alpha -------------------- Fixed issue with virtual camber transformation, where values were not read from dialog Improved behavior of FoilTable when Foil selection is changed QBlade 2.0.4 alpha ------------------ This is the first public release of QBlade CE. Be aware that this is an alpha release which will be revisioned after the first user feedback arrives and incompatibilities and errors are fixed.