Feature request

[wkdanqu]

Hi, Professors !
I would like to ask, do the loads ​​"RtAeroFxg", "RtAeroFyg", "RtAeroFzg", "RtAeroMxg", "RtAeroMyg", "RtAeroMzg"​​ include the influence of ​aerodynamic loads from the tower on the rotor​?

[jjonkman]

Dear @wkdanqu,

These rotor-aerodynamic load outputs from AeroDyn include the influence of the tower on the rotor loads (i.e., the tower potential flow and tower shadow models, which impact the wind speed and aerodynamic loads along the rotor). But they do not include the aerodynamic loads on the tower or nacelle, which are output separately from the rotor load outputs of AeroDyn.

Best regards,

[wkdanqu]

Professor@jjonkman, thank you for your guidance !
I would like to continue asking for your advice. If I want to import aerodynamic loads of structures like towers and wind turbines into AQWA calculations, is using channels like RtAeroFxg sufficient? Do I also need to consider the aerodynamic loads on each segment of the tower?
Additionally, between using RtAeroFxg and TwrBsFxt as aerodynamic load inputs for AQWA, which one is the better choice?
Thank you very much!

[jjonkman]

Dear @wkdanqu,

The aerodynamic load outputs from AeroDyn (RtAeroFxg, TwN1Fdx, etc.) are the aerodynamic loads applied on the structure. The loads output from ElastoDyn (TwrBsFxt, etc.) are the reaction loads within the structure, and so, include not only applied aerodynamic loads, but gravitational loads, inertial loads, etc. If you want to apply aerodynamic loads to an AQWA model, I would think you'd want to get these from AeroDyn, not ElastoDyn. Please note that RtAeroFxg is the total integrated load across the rotor (not including the aerodynamic loads on tower and nacelle), and there are other AeroDyn outputs available if you want the aerodynamic load on each node of the blade.

That said, OpenFAST involves an aero-elastic calculation, where by the aerodynamic loads depend on the structural motion. To mimic that in AQWA would require a coupling of the softwares, not just taking applied load outputs and applying them to the structural model afterword.

Best regards