Dear reader,
I would like to build a simple jacket structure - I use the OC4
jacket (NRELOffshrBsline5MW_OC4Jacket_SubDyn.dat) as a basis. Is there an automatic way to create such jacket model?
I would also like to display the overall structure graphically. Here I have created the *.vtp files for the 5MW system with the jacket.
Unfortunately, I can only see the turbine with tower in ParaView, but no water surface and no jacket structure. What is the best way to visualize this? (with an old OpenFast version?)
BR,
Heike
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Dear @Heike.vonWaaden,
I’m not sure what you mean by “an automatic way to create a jacket model”.
Regarding your second question, the ability to visualize the offshore support structure was broken in OpenFAST v2.6 per the following issue: Visualizing Offshore Support Structures · Issue #776 · OpenFAST/openfast · GitHub. However, this was partly resolved in OpenFAST v3.5.1 through the following pull request: Visualization of HydroDyn Morison mesh and MoorDyn lines by andrew-platt · Pull Request #1768 · OpenFAST/openfast · GitHub. So, upgrading to the newest version of OpenFAST should solve the visualization problem.
Best regards,
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Dear @Jason.Jonkman ,
Thank you very much for your answer!
With the latest version OpenFAST v3.5.1 I can now display the complete structure 
What I was trying to say here:
“Is there an automatic way to create a jacket model like this?”
Is there a way other than manually creating the jacket structure in the *SubDyn.dat file? A more sophisticated method?
But now that I can display the structure, this question is not so important anymore.
I wish you a happy and healthy new year - best wishes,
Heike
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Dear @Heike.vonWaaden,
I’m glad you got the visualization working.
I’m sure you could create a script to generate the SubDyn and HydroDyn input files for jacket structures, but NREL has not developed a generic one that can be shared.
Best regards,
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Dear @Jason.Jonkman,
First I want to wish you a happy new year!
Thank you very much for your answer
I might write a script in future to generate the SubDyn and HydroDyn input files for jacket structures.
By the way, is there an agreed place where user scripts can be uploaded?
I have already created a few scripts that might be useful for other users…
BR,
Heike
Dear @Heike.vonWaaden,
The MATLAB Toolbox and the OpenFAST Toolbox (formerly called the Python Toolbox) are good places to store useful scripts around OpenFAST, depending on the source code of the script.
Thanks in advance for your contributions.
Best regards,
