Question Regarding NREL Phase VI FAST Model

Dear Anbazhagan,

I’m not sure I can answer your first question. Can you explain where the -765 N you are referring to comes from?

Many years ago Marshall Buhl of NREL did some calibration of the airfoil data used in Test09 and Test10 to better match the UAE data, but I’m not sure of the details and I don’t know if he compared anything locally along the blade span. I doubt the airfoil data is valid for all blade stations and all wind speeds. If you plan to compare FAST against the UAE Phase VI dataset, I suggest that you review the airfoil data carefully and make your own modifications as necessary. Because the UAE rotor operates well into stall for all wind speeds above 10 m/s, when I use the UAE data, I tend to focus on wind speeds between 5 and 10 m/s where BEM tends to fair better without heavy calibration of the airfoil data.

I’m not sure what you think looks odd with the Spn(I)MLyb1 (I would expect the bending moment to increase towards the blade root), but yes, Spn(i)FLxb(i) and Spn(i)FLyb(i) can be used directly within FEM software for post-processing the local stress/strains, as summarized in the following forum topic: Stress Analysis of Blades and a Tower.

Best regards,