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BEM simulation
Hi,
I would like to enquire is it possible to run BEM simulation through SIL(python)? From what I have read so far, it only allows turbine simulation to be run in the script. Thanks.
Regards,
Rick
Hello Rick,
you are correct, only time domain simulations are possible in the SLI, but not steady BEM.
However, you could setup an aerodynamic turbine definition, set the “Convergence Acceleration Time” to a positive value, say 100s, and then evaluate your rotor design for a given TSR, or rpm/windspeed combination.
These simulations will then converge very quickly and you essentially have a steady BEM in the SIL interface.
BR,
David
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Hi David,
Is it still not possible to perform a steady BEM simulation using QBlade SIL?
Kind Regards,
Tiago Teles
Hi Tiago,
the SIL is primarily designed for interfacing with time-domain simulations, so there isn’t a dedicated steady BEM interface.
However, by setting up an aerodynamics-only rotor definition and configuring the simulation as described in my previous response, you can effectively obtain a converged steady BEM result for a given TSR within a faction of a second.
This functionality could then be encapsulated within a Python function to essentially provide a steady BEM capability.
Is there any aspect of this approach that doesn’t suit your application?
BR,
David
Hi David,
Thanks for your quick response.
What you described should work, I only inquired about steady BEM simulations because I don’t need any of the additional features of the time-domain simulation. From your response, I assume it is also not possible to perform XFoil analysis using SIL?
kind Regards,
Tiago Teles
Hi Tiago,
even if you dont need any of the time domain features. Running the steady BEM in the time domain will be fast enough and generate all the data that you require.
Regarding XFoil: I had considered implementing such functionality; however, QBlade merely acts as a “wrapper” for XFoil, interfacing with the XFoil executable directly (dounf in the /Binaries folder). Instead of accessing this functionality through QBlade, it is more straightforward to use XFoil directly within your script. For this reason, we decided against integrating this feature into QBlade’s SIL.
BR,
David
Hi David,
In my view, the advantage of using XFoil through QBlade would be that the airfoil geometry is already defined. Considering this is not possible, what would be the best approach to extract the airfoil geometry at the many radial sections from the .qpr files? Is selecting the option “Copy graph data to the clip board” in the airfoil design module the easiest manual approach?
kind Regards,
Tiago Teles
Hi,
when a simulation in QBlade is exported in the .sim ASCII format, the turbine (.trb file) and all associated polars (.plr) and airfoils (.afl) are also exported as ASCII.
You can directly modify the polars or airfoils and then load the corresponding .sim simulation definition file back into QBlade’s SIL to carry out simulations.
BR,
David
