4.2.1.4. Output Files

AeroDyn produces three types of output files: an echo file, a summary file, and a time-series results file. The following sections detail the purpose and contents of these files.

4.2.1.4.1. Echo Files

If you set the Echo flag to TRUE in the AeroDyn driver file or the AeroDyn primary input file, the contents of those files will be echoed to a file with the naming conventions, OutFileRoot.ech for the driver input file and OutFileRoot.AD.ech for the AeroDyn primary input file. OutFileRoot is either specified in the I/O SETTINGS section of the driver input file when running AeroDyn standalone, or by the FAST program when running a coupled simulation. The echo files are helpful for debugging your input files. The contents of an echo file will be truncated if AeroDyn encounters an error while parsing an input file. The error usually corresponds to the line after the last successfully echoed line.

4.2.1.4.2. Summary File

AeroDyn generates a summary file with the naming convention, OutFileRoot.AD.sum if the SumPrint parameter is set to TRUE. OutFileRoot is either specified in the I/O SETTINGS section of the driver input file when running AeroDyn standalone, or by the FAST program when running a coupled simulation. This file summarizes key information about your aerodynamics model, including which features have been enabled and what outputs have been selected.

4.2.1.4.3. Results Files

In standalone mode, the AeroDyn time-series results (a separate file for each case) are written to text-based files with the naming convention OutFileRoot.#.out, where OutFileRoot is specified in the I/O SETTINGS section of the driver input file and the ‘#’ character is an integer number corresponding to a test case line found in the COMBINED-CASE ANALYSIS section. If AeroDyn is coupled to FAST, then FAST will generate a master results file that includes the AeroDyn results and AeroDyn will not write out its own results. The results are in table format, where each column is a data channel (the first column always being the simulation time), and each row corresponds to a simulation output time step. The data channels are specified in the OUTPUTS section of the AeroDyn primary input file. The column format of the AeroDyn-generated files is specified using the OutFmt parameter of the driver input file.