tower shadow in latest release (probably a bug)

Wind & Water Computer-Aided Engineering Software Tools
1

Hi,

I tested today the last FASt release (v7.02.00 with Aerodyn v13.00.02) because I m eager to use the binary output file functionality.

I took my model files used with the previous release added the line in the fst file for switching the outputfile format and it seems aerodyn is crashing due to the tower shadow model I m using. Here is the aerofyn input:
NEWTOWER TwrShad - Tower-shadow velocity deficit (-)
True TwrPotent - Calculate tower potential flow (flag) INSTEAD OF 9999.9 ShadHWid - Tower-shadow half width (m)
False TwrShadow - Calculate tower shadow (flag) INSTEAD OF 9999.9 T_Shad_Refpt- Tower-shadow reference point (m)
“maindata\AeroDyn_XXXXX_70m_tower.dat” TwrFile - Tower drag file name (quoted string)

error code is:
WARNING: error reading line 1 of the tower Re vs CD properties in file “maindata\AeroDyn_XXXXX_70m_tower.dat” could not initialize AeroDyn. Aborting FAST

I did not change anything in the maindata\AeroDyn_XXXXX_70m_tower.dat file compared to the previous runs.

When I remove the NEWTOWER functionality, it is then working. Did you change anything there? It looks your test cases do not cover this feature so it might not have been discovered yet.

Best Regards,
Florian

2

Hi Florian,

The latest release of AeroDyn had very few changes–just those required to compile with the latest NWTC Subroutine Library. The line that is producing the error you mentioned is exactly the same. I did, however, use a newer compiler, which tends to be pickier about I/O things.

I tested the NEWTOWER feature with the sample file in the AeroDyn archive, and didn’t get any errors reading it. Perhaps your tower input file has a strange character on the first line of the Re v CD table? Or there aren’t enough TwrCD columns?

You might try running with the “ECHO” flag set to TRUE in the Primary FAST input file and see if the *.ech file produces what you expect from your input files.