About TurbSim Input File.

Wind & Water Inflow Turbulence
1

Dear all

I have some questions about TurbSim Input File.
[TurbSim Input File. Valid for TurbSim v1.50; 17-May-2010; Example file that can be used with…] this is the notice of TurbSim Input File which can be found in the folder of FAST v8.16, and [TurbSim Input File. Valid for TurbSim v1.06.00, 21-Sep-2012 ], this is in the FAST v7.
It is clearly that the ed. of v8 is lower than v7, Now I can’t download TurbSim v1.50 on the Web, if it is useful to simulink the TurbSim Input File of v8 with TurbSim v1.06.00(.EXE)? And how can I download TurbSim v1.50?
Another question, I find some parameters (example [ IECKAI TurbModel ------- Turbulence model (“IECKAI”=Kaimal,… )] ), IECKAI with quotes in statement (“IECKAI”=Kaimal,… ), but input parameter, IECKAI, without quotes. If the code can read correctly?

         thanks in advance

               Jia.Yang
2

Dear Jia,

Actually, TurbSim v1.06.00 is newer than TurbSim v1.50. We changed the numbering convention between TurbSim v1.50 and TurbSim v1.06.00 by adding an extra period and increasing the digits to two. That is, the older TurbSim v1.50 would have been named TurbSim v1.05.00 in the newer numbering convention. There were no additional lines added to the TurbSim input file between v1.50 and v1.06.00, but new options were added to a few of the existing lines. If you don’t want to use those new options, you can use the same input file from v1.50 with TurbSim v1.06.00. I suggest that you use v1.06.00 in place of v1.50.

Yes, you can drop the quotes when entering IECKAI in the TurbSim input file.

Best regards,

3

Dear Dr. Jonkman,

Thank you very much. it’s working.
I appreciate your precious time and efforts.

Best regard

Jia.Yang

4

Dear Jason,

For some reasons, I would like to use white noise spectrum for my wind field. Though I can’t find any option for white noise wind spectrum in the Turbsim. I know that for Wave loading, there is an option of the white noise spectrum, but I am not sure if I can do the same for wind loading. Could you please kindly give me a hint? Thank you very much.

Best Regards,
Arash

5

Dear Arash,

There is no option in TurbSim for generating wind based on a white-noise spectrum. But you could probably customize the source code to include that feature.

Best regards,

6

Dear all，
I recently found a problem when I checked the previous simulation. When I used python tools to generate the TurbSim input file, the corresponding HubHt and the set parameters were different, as shown in Figure 1. This will cause the wind speed at the hub to be too high during the actual simulation.

figure1
figure12406×169 15.3 KB

When I tried to find the cause, I saw TurbsimCaseCreation.Py found a “domainsize” function, in which there is a coefficient of 2.23313 in the definition of width and height. I looked up the user manual and found no explanation. Does anyone know?
figure2

In addition, what is zbot? Why the value is 1?
figure3

If anyone knows the reason, please tell me. Thank you very much!
Best regards,
Jundong Wang

7

Where did you get the TurbSimCaseCreation.py script? I have never seen this before, but it looks like this is created for some particular wake meandering (or FAST.Farm) simulation. I would assume zbot refers to “z bottom”, or the lowest height of the grid.

8

Dear @Jundong.Wang,

I’m not sure I fully understand your questions, but just a couple comments:

Best regards,

9

Dear @Bonnie.Jonkman
Sry for replying late ， as @Jason.Jonkman said ,i get the scripts in the FAST.Farm tools repository(https://github.com/OpenFAST/python-toolbox/tree/main/pyFAST/fastfarm) ,and what make me confused is the parameter 2.23313. Jason helped me with datailed explanation.
I agree with what you said about zbot, but i can’t figure out why the value is 1.0 in the script.

Thanks for your help!

@Jason.Jonkman
Thanks for your help and expect new tools for FAST.Farm!
Best regards,

10

Dear @Jundong.Wang,

The bottom of the ambient wind domains is typically chosen close to the ground, but not at zero elevation due to limitations in TurbSim; 1.0 m is a reasonable choice for this.

Best regards,

11

Dear all,
When I run TurbSim on a new Windows computer, I find a error:

PS E:\TurbSim> .\TurbSim_x64.exe .\10m-006.inp

**************************************************************************************************
TurbSim

Copyright (C) 2022 National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Copyright (C) 2022 Envision Energy USA LTD

This program is licensed under Apache License Version 2.0 and comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
See the "LICENSE" file distributed with this software for details.
**************************************************************************************************

 Running TurbSim (from OpenFAST-v3.2.1)


 Reading the input file ".\10m-006.inp".
TS_ValidateInput:A coherent turbulence time step file cannot be generated with the IECKAI model.
 Calculating the spectral and transfer function matrices:
    u-component matrices (IEC coherence method)

Although the program is still running, I don’t know whether it has a great impact on FAST. Farm simulation. Maybe someone knows?

Best Regards,
Jundong Wang

12

Dear @Jundong.Wang,

The “superimposed coherent turbulent structures” functionality of TurbSim is not supported by FAST v8, OpenFAST, or FAST.Farm. My guess is you are receiving this warning because you have set WrACT = TRUE in TurbSim. Setting WrACT = FALSE in TurbSim should eliminate the warning.

Best regards,

13

Dear @Jason.Jonkman

Thank you very much for your help, but what puzzles me is that the setting of “WrACT” in the input file is FALSE. Maybe it’s because of the TurbSim version?

--------TurbSim v2.00.* Input File------------------------
for Certification Test #1 (Kaimal Spectrum, formatted FF files).
---------Runtime Options-----------------------------------
False	Echo		- Echo input data to <RootName>.ech (flag)
123456	RandSeed1		- First random seed  (-2147483648 to 2147483647)
RanLux	RandSeed2		- Second random seed (-2147483648 to 2147483647) for intrinsic pRNG, or an alternative pRNG: "RanLux" or "RNSNLW"
False	WrBHHTP		- Output hub-height turbulence parameters in binary form?  (Generates RootName.bin)
False	WrFHHTP		- Output hub-height turbulence parameters in formatted form?  (Generates RootName.dat)
False	WrADHH		- Output hub-height time-series data in AeroDyn form?  (Generates RootName.hh)
True	WrADFF		- Output full-field time-series data in TurbSim/AeroDyn form? (Generates RootName.bts)
False	WrBLFF		- Output full-field time-series data in BLADED/AeroDyn form?  (Generates RootName.wnd)
False	WrADTWR		- Output tower time-series data? (Generates RootName.twr)
False	WrFMTFF		- Output full-field time-series data in formatted (readable) form?  (Generates RootName.u, RootName.v, RootName.w)
False	WrACT		- Output coherent turbulence time steps in AeroDyn form? (Generates RootName.cts)
True	Clockwise		- Clockwise rotation looking downwind? (used only for full-field binary files - not necessary for AeroDyn)
0	ScaleIEC		- Scale IEC turbulence models to exact target standard deviation? [0=no additional scaling; 1=use hub scale uniformly; 2=use individual scales]

Best regards,

14

Dear @Jundong.Wang,

Ah, I see the issue now. In OpenFAST v3.2, TurbSim runtime option WrHAWCFF was added and Clockwise was removed, which shifted inputs WrFMTFF and WrACT down by one line each, but kept the total number of lines in the TurbSim input file unchanged. So, by setting Clockwise = True, you have actually set WrACT = True. You’d see this if you enabled the Echo option. See the documentation of the input file change here for more information: 4.1.2. API changes between versions — OpenFAST v3.3.0 documentation.

Best regards,

1 Like
15

Dear @Jason.Jonkman ,

Thank you very much. it’s working.
I appreciate your precious time and efforts.

Best regard,
Jundong Wang

16

Dear @Jason.Jonkman ,

I need to simulate a large wind farm. After I set the Turbsim parameters, I found that the TurbSim program could not run. What should I do?

  Reading the input file "N37.inp".
  Calculating the spectral and transfer function matrices:
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

This is the setting of the inp file：

--------TurbSim v2.00.* Input File------------------------
for Certification Test #1 (Kaimal Spectrum, formatted FF files).
---------Runtime Options-----------------------------------
False	Echo		- Echo input data to <RootName>.ech (flag)
123456	RandSeed1		- First random seed  (-2147483648 to 2147483647)
RanLux	RandSeed2		- Second random seed (-2147483648 to 2147483647) for intrinsic pRNG, or an alternative pRNG: "RanLux" or "RNSNLW"
False	WrBHHTP		- Output hub-height turbulence parameters in binary form?  (Generates RootName.bin)
False	WrFHHTP		- Output hub-height turbulence parameters in formatted form?  (Generates RootName.dat)
False	WrADHH		- Output hub-height time-series data in AeroDyn form?  (Generates RootName.hh)
True	WrADFF		- Output full-field time-series data in TurbSim/AeroDyn form? (Generates RootName.bts)
False	WrBLFF		- Output full-field time-series data in BLADED/AeroDyn form?  (Generates RootName.wnd)
False	WrADTWR		- Output tower time-series data? (Generates RootName.twr)
False	WrFMTFF		- Output full-field time-series data in formatted (readable) form?  (Generates RootName.u, RootName.v, RootName.w)
False	WrACT		- Output coherent turbulence time steps in AeroDyn form? (Generates RootName.cts)
True	Clockwise		- Clockwise rotation looking downwind? (used only for full-field binary files - not necessary for AeroDyn)
0	ScaleIEC		- Scale IEC turbulence models to exact target standard deviation? [0=no additional scaling; 1=use hub scale uniformly; 2=use individual scales]

--------Turbine/Model Specifications-----------------------
85	NumGrid_Z		- Vertical grid-point matrix dimension
1174	NumGrid_Y		- Horizontal grid-point matrix dimension
0.05	TimeStep		- Time step [seconds]
10.00	AnalysisTime		- Length of analysis time series [seconds] (program will add time if necessary: AnalysisTime = MAX(AnalysisTime, UsableTime+GridWidth/MeanHHWS) )
"ALL"	UsableTime		- Usable length of output time series [seconds] (program will add GridWidth/MeanHHWS seconds unless UsableTime is "ALL")
211.000	HubHt		- Hub height [m] (should be > 0.5*GridHeight)
420.000	GridHeight		- Grid height [m]
5865.000	GridWidth		- Grid width [m] (should be >= 2*(RotorRadius+ShaftLength))
0	VFlowAng		- Vertical mean flow (uptilt) angle [degrees]
0	HFlowAng		- Horizontal mean flow (skew) angle [degrees]

--------Meteorological Boundary Conditions-------------------
"IECKAI"	TurbModel		- Turbulence model ("IECKAI","IECVKM","GP_LLJ","NWTCUP","SMOOTH","WF_UPW","WF_07D","WF_14D","TIDAL","API","IECKAI","TIMESR", or "NONE")
"unused"	UserFile		- Name of the file that contains inputs for user-defined spectra or time series inputs (used only for "IECKAI" and "TIMESR" models)
1	IECstandard		- Number of IEC 61400-x standard (x=1,2, or 3 with optional 61400-1 edition number (i.e. "1-Ed2") )
"6.000	"	IECturbc		- IEC turbulence characteristic ("A", "B", "C" or the turbulence intensity in percent) ("KHTEST" option with NWTCUP model, not used for other models)
"NTM"	IEC_WindType		- IEC turbulence type ("NTM"=normal, "xETM"=extreme turbulence, "xEWM1"=extreme 1-year wind, "xEWM50"=extreme 50-year wind, where x=wind turbine class 1, 2, or 3)
"default"	ETMc		- IEC Extreme Turbulence Model "c" parameter [m/s]
"PL"	WindProfileType		- Velocity profile type ("LOG";"PL"=power law;"JET";"H2L"=Log law for TIDAL model;"API";"PL";"TS";"IEC"=PL on rotor disk, LOG elsewhere; or "default")
"PowerLaw_6ms02.dat"	ProfileFile		- Name of the file that contains input profiles for WindProfileType="PL" and/or TurbModel="USRVKM" [-]
90.000	RefHt		- Height of the reference velocity (URef) [m]
10.000	URef		- Mean (total) velocity at the reference height [m/s] (or "default" for JET velocity profile) [must be 1-hr mean for API model; otherwise is the mean over AnalysisTime seconds]
350	ZJetMax		- Jet height [m] (used only for JET velocity profile, valid 70-490 m)
"0.200"	PLExp		- Power law exponent [-] (or "default")
"default"	Z0		- Surface roughness length [m] (or "default")

--------Non-IEC Meteorological Boundary Conditions------------
"default"	Latitude		- Site latitude [degrees] (or "default")
0.05	RICH_NO		- Gradient Richardson number [-]
"default"	UStar		- Friction or shear velocity [m/s] (or "default")
"default"	ZI		- Mixing layer depth [m] (or "default")
"default"	PC_UW		- Hub mean u'w' Reynolds stress [m^2/s^2] (or "default" or "none")
"default"	PC_UV		- Hub mean u'v' Reynolds stress [m^2/s^2] (or "default" or "none")
"default"	PC_VW		- Hub mean v'w' Reynolds stress [m^2/s^2] (or "default" or "none")

--------Spatial Coherence Parameters----------------------------
"IEC"	SCMod1		- u-component coherence model ("GENERAL","IEC","API","NONE", or "default")
"IEC"	SCMod2		- v-component coherence model ("GENERAL","IEC","NONE", or "default")
"IEC"	SCMod3		- w-component coherence model ("GENERAL","IEC","NONE", or "default")
"12.0 0.000659"	InCDec1	- u-component coherence parameters for general or IEC models [-, m^-1] (e.g. "10.0  0.3e-3" in quotes) (or "default")
"12.0 0.000659"	InCDec2	- v-component coherence parameters for general or IEC models [-, m^-1] (e.g. "10.0  0.3e-3" in quotes) (or "default")
"12.0 0.000659"	InCDec3	- w-component coherence parameters for general or IEC models [-, m^-1] (e.g. "10.0  0.3e-3" in quotes) (or "default")
"0.0"	CohExp		- Coherence exponent for general model [-] (or "default")

--------Coherent Turbulence Scaling Parameters-------------------
".\EventData"	CTEventPath		- Name of the path where event data files are located
"random"	CTEventFile		- Type of event files ("LES", "DNS", or "RANDOM")
true	Randomize		- Randomize the disturbance scale and locations? (true/false)
1	DistScl		- Disturbance scale [-] (ratio of event dataset height to rotor disk). (Ignored when Randomize = true.)
0.5	CTLy		- Fractional location of tower centerline from right [-] (looking downwind) to left side of the dataset. (Ignored when Randomize = true.)
0.5	CTLz		- Fractional location of hub height from the bottom of the dataset. [-] (Ignored when Randomize = true.)
30	CTStartTime		- Minimum start time for coherent structures in RootName.cts [seconds]

====================================================
! NOTE: Do not add or remove any lines in this file!
====================================================

Best regard,
Jundong Wang

17

Dear @Jundong.Wang,

Presumably you are trying to run TurbSim for a FAST.Farm simulation; is that correct?

Unfortunately, TurbSim was not developed to generate such large and finely discretized wind data files. To generate large wind domains for FAST.Farm, we typically use Mod_AmbWind = 3, which requires that you run TurbSim separately for both the low- and high-resolution domains. The low-res TurbSim domain can be large and cover the full wind farm, but be coarsely discretized, at least spatially. The high-res TurbSim domains around each wind turbine can then be derived to be consistent with the low-res domain using the TIMESR option of TurbSim. See the “Modeling Guidance” section of the online FAST.Farm documentation for more information, including Python scripts that can be used to aid in the process.

Best regards,

19

Thank you very much for your help. I found the relevant description, but I still need your help to answer some questions:

  1. How does TurbSim generate wind for low-resolution area and high-resolution area respectively? I always thought The wind file generated by .inp is only a low-resolution wind. I don’t know how to generate a high-resolution wind data file for the wind turbine alone. I found the relevant documents, but I’m sorry I didn’t understand how to do it.
  2. When I select Mod_ AmbWind=2/3, I can choose the corresponding .dat file in the InflowFile, and then set the wind_type= 3, but just like the sample given in the online document appendix, it can only correspond to one bts file. In the Modeling Guidance, it is said that several wind data files can be included, which makes me a little confused. It means that not only one. bts file is written, but also one LOW. bts file and several files named by the Turbine serial number - like HighT1.bts file, right? Or do you have some cases for my reference?

Thanks in advance,
Jundong.Wang

20

Dear @Jundong.Wang,

Regarding (1), with Mod_AmbWind = 3, you must run TurbSim separately for both the low- and high-resolution domains. For each high-resolution, domain, you must extract the wind speed time series from the low-resolution domain–i.e., the wind speed time series at the hub of the wind turbine–and then use the TIMESR option of TurbSim to derive a high-resolution domain that is time-synchronized with the low-resolution domain. The online FAST.Farm documentation and provided Python scripts have more detail. We have recently reviewed and improved the Python scripts and intend to upload an update soon.

Regarding (2), the names of the multiple TurbSim binary files–separate files for both the low-resolution and high-resolution domains–are documented in the online FAST.Farm documentation here: 4.2.15.4. Input Files — OpenFAST v3.3.0 documentation. I agree that we need to add a good example of Mod_AmbWind = 3 to the FAST.Farm r-test.

Best regards,

21

Dear @Jason.Jonkman

Sorry for replying late, I tried to understand what you said by reading carefully. Unfortunately, I did not find the python script, but I found some Matlab programs that might help with it. I think I got what you mean "The low-res TurbSim domain can be large and cover the full wind farm, but be coarsely discretized, at least spatially." I changed the resolution to 10m and then I can run the TurbSim. Thanks for your kindest help.

Here are some details which confused me a lot.

  1. I checked the .m file (located in TurbSim/Certest/UserTimeSeries), and there are two parameters for the Function :writeTurbSimTimeSeriesInput(input_file, data_file, uvw, t, y, heights, RefID) . In my opinion, input_file is the extracted wind speed time series Low-res data for each turbine, is that right?

  2. And the data_file is the weather data? I don’t know how to get it, I follow the comment turning to the https://wind.nrel.gov/MetData/135mData/M4Twr/20Hz/mat/ and find some .mat file. Do you have any suggestions for data acquisition?

  3. When I read TurbSim guidance (https://www.nrel.gov/wind/nwtc/assets/downloads/TurbSim/TurbSim_v2.00.pdf) , The description of npoints and RefPtID makes me a little confused. My understanding is that npoints are the number of points that need to be calculated for each wind turbine, so different y and z positions are required. I don’t know what the selection is based on. Secondly, I have not found the relevant literature of RefPtID, so I am not clear about the impact of different choices on the results.

I sincerely desire for your help
Best regards,
Jundong Wang