Rough time scale to learn and implement FAST

Wind & Water Computer-Aided Engineering Software Tools
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Hi folks,

I’m an M.Eng Aero student and would like to implement FAST on my final project. I’ve never used it before and wondered if anyone knew a rough time scale of how long it takes to learn and carry out an analysis on a HATT.

I need to have the project finished by December, would this be realistic???

Kind Regards

Kristian

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Dear Kristian,

If you already understand the concepts of wind-turbine dynamics, aerodynamics, and control, it should not take long. It is much easier to learn than a general-purpose multibody code such as ADAMS, as FAST uses the language of wind-turbine engineers. As for how long it will take, I really can’t say, as I started developing it before I started using it.

One of our interns said he thought a day’s introduction to it should be sufficient and getting your project done by December should not be a problem. Start with one of the supplied models in the CertTest folder and make changes to it.

The user’s guide is really quite thorough, so I strongly recommend reading it, although I would just skim the tables of input and output variables to see what sorts of things are possible. It’s a real page turner… ;-)

Marshall

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Dear Marshal,

Thank you very much for your valuable advice. Your time is appreciated.

Kristian

P.s. I started reading the user guide last night, I just couldn’t put it down!! :laughing:

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Dear Kristian,

A good way to get started with FAST would be to go through the presentations and sample models/simulations that were presented at our last modeling workshop workshop. See my August 13, 2012 post from the forum topic found here: Modeling Workshops. These will give you a good overview on what is involved in running FAST and give you a little experience running simulations. The FAST User’s Guide will then be easier to read after you have had this introduction.

Best regards,

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Dear Jason,

Thanks for the info. That will be fantastic!!!

Kristian