4.2.5.3. Input Files

The user specifies the substructure model parameters, including its geometry and properties, via a primary SubDyn input file. When used in stand-alone mode, an additional driver input file is required. This driver file specifies inputs normally provided to SubDyn by FAST, including motions of the TP reference point.

No lines should be added or removed from the input files, except in tables where the number of rows is specified.

Additional input files containing soil-structure information (SSIfile) can be provided by the user specifying their paths in the main SubDyn input file under the section titled BASE REACTION JOINTS.

4.2.5.3.1. Units

SubDyn uses the SI system (kg, m, s, N). Angles are assumed to be in radians unless otherwise specified.

4.2.5.3.2. SubDyn Driver Input File

The driver input file is only needed for the stand-alone version of SubDyn and contains inputs that are normally set by FAST, and that are necessary to control the simulation for uncoupled models. It is possible to provide per-time-step inputs to SubDyn, even in stand-alone mode, by tying the driver file to an additional input file containing time-histories of the TP motion (displacements, velocities, and accelerations). A sample SubDyn driver input file is given in Section 4.2.5.10.

Users can set the Echo flag in this file to TRUE so that SubDyn_win32.exe echoes the contents of the driver input file (useful for debugging errors in the driver file). The echo file has the naming convention of OutRootName.dvr.ech. OutRootName is specified in the SUBDYN section of the driver input file (see below).

4.2.5.3.2.1. Environmental conditions

Set the gravity constant using the Gravity parameter. SubDyn expects a magnitude, so in SI units this would be set to 9.80665 \(\frac{m}{s^{2}}\) for standard gravity. WtrDpth specifies the water depth (depth of the seabed), based on the reference MSL, and must be a value greater than zero.

4.2.5.3.2.2. SubDyn module inputs

SDInputFile is the file name of the primary SubDyn input file. This name should be in quotations and can contain an absolute path or a relative path. All SubDyn-generated output files will be prefixed with OutRootName. If this parameter includes a file path, the output will be generated in that folder. If this output is left empty, the driver filename is used (without the extension) is used. NSteps specifies the number of simulation time steps, and TimeStep specifies the time between steps. Next, the user must specify the location of the TP reference point TP_RefPoint (in the global reference system). This is normally set by FAST through the ElastoDyn input file, and it is the so-called platform reference point location. When coupled to FAST, the platform reference point location is identified by only one (Z) coordinate. The interface joints, defined in SubDyn’s main input file, are rigidly connected to this reference point. To utilize the same geometry definition within SubDyn’s main input file, while still allowing for different substructure orientations about the vertical, the user can set SubRotateZ to a prescribed angle in degrees with respect to the global Z-axis. The entire substructure will be rotated by that angle. (This feature is only available in stand-alone mode.)

4.2.5.3.2.3. Input motion

Setting InputsMod = 0 sets all TP reference-point input motions to zero for all time steps. Setting InputsMod = 1 allows the user to provide steady (fixed) inputs for the TP motion in the STEADY INPUTS section of the file—uTPInSteady, uDotTPInSteady, and uDotDotTPInSteady following the same convention as Table 1 (without time). Setting InputsMod = 2 allows the user to input a time-series file whose name is specified via the InputsFile parameter. The time-series input file is a text-formatted file. This file has no header lines, NSteps rows, and each i^th row has the first column showing time as t = ( i – 1 )*TimeStep (the data will not be interpolated to other times). The remainder of each row is made of white-space-separated columns of floating point values representing the necessary motion inputs as shown in Table 1. All motions are specified in the global, inertial-frame coordinate system. SubDyn does not check for physical consistency between the displacement, velocity, and acceleration motions specified for the TP reference point in the driver file.

Table 1. TP Reference Point Inputs Time-Series Data File Contents

Column Number	Input	Units
1	Time step value	s
2-4	TP reference point translational displacements along X, Y, and Z	m
5-7	TP reference point rotational displacements about X, Y, and Z (small angle assumptions apply)	rad/s
8-10	TP reference point translational velocities along X, Y, and Z	m/s
11-13	TP reference point rotational velocities about X, Y, and Z	rad/s
14-16	TP reference point translational accelerations along X, Y, and Z	m/s^2
17-19	TP reference point rotational accelerations about X, Y, and Z	rad/s^2

4.2.5.3.2.4. Applied loads

The next section of the input file provides options to apply loads at given joints of the structure. nAppliedLoads [-] specifies the number of applied loads listed in the subsequent table. The user can specify a combination of steady loads and unsteady loads (both are added together). The loads are in the global coordinate sytem. The steady loads are given as columns of the table (Fx, Fy, Fz, Mx, My, Mz), whereas the unsteady loads are provided in a CSV file. The CSV filename is provided in the last entry of the table. If the filename is empty, the unsteady loads are not read. An example of applied loads table is given below:

---------------------- LOADS --------------------------------------------------------------------
1    nAppliedLoads  - Number of applied loads at given nodes
ALJointID    Fx     Fy    Fz     Mx     My     Mz   UnsteadyFile
   (-)       (N)    (N)   (N)   (Nm)   (Nm)   (Nm)     (-)
   15       100      0     0     0       0      0      ""
   23        0       0     0     0       0      0      "Force_TS.csv"

In the above example, a steady applied force of 100N is applied at the joint with ID=15 of the structure, and an unsteady load is applied to joint 23. The time series of unsteady loads is a CSV file with 7 columns (Time, Fx, Fy, Fz, Mx, My, Mz) and one line of header. The time vector needs to be increasing, but does not need to be linear or cover the full range of the simulation. Interpolation is done in between time stamps, and the first are last values are used for times smaller and larger than the simulation time range respectively. An example of time series is shown below:

#Time_[s] , Fx_[N] , Fy_[N] , Fz_[N] , Mx_[Nm] , My_[Nm] , Mz_[Nm]
0       , 0.0    , 0.0    , 0.0    , 0.0     , 0.0     , 0.0
0      , 100.0  , 0.0    , 0.0    , 0.0     , 0.0     , 0.0
0      , 0.0    , 0.0    , 0.0    , 0.0     , 0.0     , 0.0

4.2.5.3.3. SubDyn Primary Input File

The SubDyn input file defines the substructure geometry, integration and simulation options, finite-element parameters, and output channels. The geometry of members is defined by joint coordinates of the undisplaced substructure in the global reference system (inertial-frame coordinate system), with the origin at the intersection of the undeflected tower centerline with MSL or ground level for land-based structures. A member connects two joints; multiple members can use a common joint. The hydrodynamic and gravity loads are applied at the nodes, which are the resultant of member refinement into multiple (NDiv input) elements (nodes are located at the ends of each element), as calculated by the module. Member properties include outer diameter, thickness, material density, and Young’s and shear moduli. Member properties are specified at the joints; if properties change from one joint to the other, they will be linearly interpolated for the inner nodes. Unlike the geometric properties, the material properties are not allowed to change within a single member.

Future releases will allow for members of different cross-sections, i.e., noncircular members. For this reason, the input file has (currently unused) sections dedicated to the identification of direction cosines that in the future will allow the module to identify the correct orientation of noncircular members. The current release only accepts tubular (circular) members.

The file is organized into several functional sections. Each section corresponds to an aspect of the SubDyn model and substructure.

If this manual refers to an ID in a table entry, it is an integer identifier for the table entry and must be unique for a given table entry.

A sample SubDyn primary input file is given in Section 4.2.5.9.

The input file begins with two lines of header information, which is for the user but is not used by the software.

4.2.5.3.3.1. Simulation Control Parameters

Users can set the Echo flag to TRUE to have SubDyn echo the contents of the SubDyn input file (useful for debugging errors in the input file). The echo file has the naming convention of OutRootName.SD.ech. OutRootName is either specified in the SUBDYN section of the driver input file when running SubDyn standalone, or by FAST, when running a coupled simulation, from FAST’s main input file.

SDdeltaT specifies the fixed time step of the integration in seconds. The keyword ‘DEFAULT’ may be used to indicate that the module should employ the time step prescribed by the driver code (FAST/standalone driver program).

IntMethod specifies the integration algorithm to use. There are four options: 1) Runge-Kutta 4^th-order explicit (RK4); 2) Adams-Bashforth 4^th-order explicit predictor (AB4); 3) Adams-Bashforth-Moulton 4^th-order explicit predictor-corrector (ABM4); 4) Adams-Moulton implicit 2^nd-order (AM2). See Section on how to properly select this and the previous parameter values.

SttcSolve is a flag that specifies whether the static improvement method (SIM, see Section 4.2.5.6.6.6) shall be employed. Through this method, all (higher frequency) modes that are not considered by the C-B reduction are treated quasi-statically. This treatment helps minimize the number of retained modes needed to capture effects such as static gravity and buoyancy loads, and high-frequency loads transferred from the turbine. Recommended to set to True.

GuyanLoadCorrection is a flag to specify whether the extra moment due to the lever arm from the Guyan deflection of the structure is to be added to the loads passed to SubDyn, and, whether the FEM representation should be expressed in the rotating frame in the floating case (the rotation is induced by the rigid body Guyan modes). See section Section 4.2.5.6.6.3 for details. Recommended to set to True.

4.2.5.3.3.2. FEA and Craig-Bampton Parameters

FEMMod specifies one of the following options for finite-element formulation: 1) Euler-Bernoulli; 3) Timoshenko. Tapered formulations (2 and 4) have yet to be implemented and will be available in a future release.

NDiv specifies the number of elements per member. Analysis nodes are located at the ends of elements and the number of analysis nodes per member equals NDiv + 1. NDiv is applied uniformly to all members regardless of the member’s length, hence it could result in small elements in some members and long elements in other members. Increasing the number of elements per member may increase accuracy, with the trade-off of increased memory usage and computation time. We recommend using NDiv > 1 when modeling tapered members.

CBMod is a flag that specifies whether or not the C-B reduction should be carried out by the module. If FALSE, then the full finite-element model is retained and Nmodes is ignored.

Nmodes sets the number of internal C-B modal DOFs to retain in the C-B reduction. Nmodes = 0 corresponds to a Guyan (static) reduction. Nmodes is ignored if CBMod is set to FALSE, meaning the full finite-element model is retained by keeping all modes (i.e. a modal analysis is still done, and all the modes are used as DOFs) .

JDampings specifies value(s) of damping coefficients as a percentage of critical damping for the retained C-B modes. Distinct damping coefficients for each retained mode should be listed on the same line, separated by white space. If the number of JDampings is less than the number of retained modes, the last value will be replicated for all the remaining modes. (see Section 4.2.5.6.6.5)

GuyanDampMod Guyan damping [0=none, 1=Rayleigh Damping, 2= user specified 6x6 matrix] (see Section 4.2.5.6.6.5)

RayleighDamp Mass and stiffness proportional damping coefficients (\((\alpha,\beta)\) Rayleigh damping) [only if GuyanDampMod=1] Guyan damping matrix (6x6) [only if GuyanDamgMod=2] (see Section 4.2.5.6.6.5)

Guyan damping matrix: The 6 lines following this input line consits of the 6x6 coefficients of the damping matrix to be applied at the interface. (see Section 4.2.5.6.6.5)

For more information on these parameters and guidelines on how to set them, see Sections Section 4.2.5.5 and Section 4.2.5.6.

4.2.5.3.3.3. Structure Joints

The finite-element model is based on a substructure composed of joints interconnected by members. NJoints is the user-specified number of joints, and determines the number of rows in the subsequent table. Because a member connects two joints, NJoints must be greater than or equal to two. Each joint listed in the table is identified by a unique integer, JointID; each integer between one and NJoints must be present in the table, but they need not be sequential. The (X,Y,Z) coordinate of each joint is specified in the substructure (SS) coordinate system, which coincides with the global inertial-frame coordinate system via JointXss, JointYss, and JointZss, respectively. This version of SubDyn does not consider overlap when multiple members meet at a common joint, therefore, it tends to overestimate the total substructure mass. Member overlap and node offset calculations will be considered in a future release of SubDyn. The fifth column specifies the JointType (see Section 4.2.5.6.4):

Cantilever joints (JointType=1)
Universal joint (JointType=2)
Pin joint (JointType=3)
Ball joint (JointType=4)

The three following columns specify the vector coordinates of the direction around which rotation is free for a pin joints. The last column, JointStiff specify a value of additional stiffness to be added to the “free” rotational DOFs of Ball, Pin and Universal joints.

Note for HydroDyn coupling: modeling a fixed-bottom substructure embedded into the seabed (e.g., through piles or suction buckets) requires that the lowest member joint(s) in HydroDyn lie(s) below the water depth. Placing a joint at or above the water depth will result in static and dynamic pressure loads being applied at the joint. When SubDyn is coupled to FAST, the joints and members need not match between HydroDyn and SubDyn—FAST’s mesh-mapping utility handles transfer of motion and loads across meshes in a physically relevant manner (Sprague et al. 2014), but consistency between the joints and members in HydroDyn and SubDyn is advised.

An example of joint table is given below

3   NJoints  - Number of joints (-)
JointID JointXss JointYss  JointZss JointType JointDirX JointDirY JointDirZ JointStiff
  (-)      (m)      (m)       (m)     (-)        (-)       (-)       (-)     (Nm/rad)
  101      0.0      0.0      50.0      1         0.0       0.0       0.0       0.0
  111      0.0      0.0      10.0      2         0.0       1.0       0.0     100.0
  102      0.0      0.0     -45.0      1         0.0       0.0       0.0       0.0

4.2.5.3.3.4. Base Reaction Joints

SubDyn requires the user to specify the boundary joints. NReact should be set equal to the number of joints (defined earlier) at the bottom of the structure (i.e., seabed) that are fully constrained; NReact also determines the number of rows in the subsequent table. In SubDyn, NReact must be greater than or equal to one. Each joint listed in the table is identified by a unique integer, RJointID, which must correspond to the JointID value found in the STRUCTURE JOINTS table. The flags RctTDXss, RctTDYss, RctTDZss, RctRDXss, RctRDYss, RctRDZss indicate the fixity value for the three translations (TD) and three rotations (RD) in the SS coordinate system (global inertial-frame coordinate system). One denotes fixed and zero denotes free (instead of TRUE/FALSE). SSIfile points to the relative path and filename for an SSI information file. This version of SubDyn can, in fact, handle partially restrained joints by setting one or more DOF flags to 0 and providing the appropriate stiffness and mass matrix elements for that DOF via the SSIfile. If a DOF flag is set to 1, then the node DOF is considered restrained and the associated matrix elements potentially provided in the SSIfile will be ignored.

An example of base reaction and interface table is given below

------------------- BASE REACTION JOINTS
  1   NReact      - Number of Joints with reaction forces
RJointID RctTDXss RctTDYss RctTDZss RctRDXss RctRDYss RctRDZss  SSIfile
  (-)     (flag)   (flag)   (flag)   (flag)   (flag)   (flag)   (string)
  61         1        1        1        1        1        1     "SSI.txt"
------------------- INTERFACE JOINTS
  1   NInterf     - Number of interface joints locked to the Transition Piece (TP)
IJointID ItfTDXss ItfTDYss ItfTDZss ItfRDXss ItfRDYss ItfRDZss
  (-)     (flag)   (flag)   (flag)   (flag)   (flag)   (flag)
  24         1        1        1        1        1        1

4.2.5.3.3.5. Interface Joints

SubDyn requires the user to specify the interface joints. NInterf should be set equal to the number of joints at the top of the structure (i.e., TP); NInterf also determines the number of rows in the subsequent table. In SubDyn, NInterf must be greater than or equal to one. Note that these joints will be assumed to be rigidly connected to the platform reference point of ElastoDyn (see FAST documentation) when coupled to FAST, or to the TP reference point if SubDyn is run in stand-alone mode. Each joint listed in the table is identified by a unique integer, IJointID, which must correspond to the JointID value found in the STRUCTURE JOINTS table. The flags ItfTDXss, ItfTDYss, ItfTDZss, ItfRDXss, ItfRDYss, ItfRDZss indicate the fixity value for the three translations (TD) and three rotations (RD) in the SS coordinate system (global inertial-frame coordinate system). One denotes fixed and zero denotes free (instead of TRUE/FALSE). This version of SubDyn cannot handle partially restrained joints, so all flags must be set to one; different degrees of fixity will be considered in a future release.

4.2.5.3.3.6. Members

NMembers is the user-specified number of members and determines the number of rows in the subsequent table. Each member listed in the table is identified by a unique integer, MemberID. Each integer between one and NMembers must be present in the table, but they need not be sequential. For each member distinguished by MemberID, MJointID1 specifies the starting joint and MJointID2 specifies the ending joint, corresponding to an identifier (JointID) from the STRUCTURE JOINTS table. Likewise, MPropSetID1 corresponds to the identifier PropSetID from the MEMBER X-SECTION PROPERTY table (discussed next) for starting cross-section properties and MPropSetID2 specifies the identifier for ending cross-section properties, allowing for tapered members. The sixth column specify the member type MType. A member is one of the three following types (see Section 4.2.5.6.4):

Beams (MType=1), Euler-Bernoulli (FEMMod=1) or Timoshenko (FEMMod=3)
Pretension cables (MType=2)
Rigid link (MType=3)

COSMID refers to the IDs of the members’ cosine matrices for noncircular members; the current release uses SubDyn’s default direction cosine convention if it’s not present or when COSMID values are -1.

An example of member table is given below

   2   NMembers    - Number of frame members
MemberID   MJointID1   MJointID2   MPropSetID1   MPropSetID2  MType   COSMID
  (-)         (-)         (-)          (-)           (-)        (-)      (-)
   10        101         102            2             2          1
   11        102         103            2             2          1

4.2.5.3.3.7. Member Cross-Section Properties

Members in SubDyn are assumed to be straight, circular, possibly tapered, and hollow cylinders. Future releases will allow for generic cross-sections to be employed. These special cross-section members will be defined in the second of two tables in the input file (Member X-Section Property data 2/2), which is currently ignored.

For the circular cross-section members, properties needed by SubDyn are material Young’s modulus, YoungE, shear modulus, ShearG, and density, MatDens, member outer diameter, XsecD, and member thickness, XsecT. Users will need to create an entry in the first table within this section of the input file distinguished by PropSetID, for each unique combination of these five properties. The member property-set table contains NPropSets rows. The member property sets are referred to by their PropSetID in the MEMBERS table, as described in Section . Note, however, that although diameter and thickness will be linearly interpolated within an individual member, SubDyn will not allow material properties to change within an individual member.

The second table in this section of the input file (not to be used in this release) will have NXPropSets rows (assumed to be zero for this release), and have additional entries when compared to the previous table, including: cross-sectional area (XsecA), cross-sectional shear area along the local principal axes x and y (XsecAsx, XsecAsy), cross-sectional area second moment of inertia about x and y (XsecJxx, XsecJyy), and cross-sectional area polar moment of inertia (XsecJ0). The member cosine matrix section (see Section ) will help determine the correct orientation of the members within the assembly.

4.2.5.3.3.8. Cable Properties

Members that are specified as pretension cables (MType=2), have their properties defined in the cable properties table. The table lists for each cable property: the property ID (PropSetID), the cable tension stiffness (EA), the material density (MatDens), the pretension force (T0), and the control channel (CtrlChannel). The control channel is only used if ServoDyn provides dedicated control signal, in which case the cable tension (given in terms of a length change \(\Delta l\)) is dynamically changed (see Section 4.2.5.6.4.5.3). The FEM representation of pretension cable is given in Section 4.2.5.6.4.5.

An example of cable properties table is given below:

-------------------------- CABLE PROPERTIES  -------------------------------------
             2   NCablePropSets   - Number of cable cable properties
PropSetID   EA     MatDens    T0    CtrlChannel
  (-)      (N)     (kg/m)    (N)      (-)
   11      210E7   7850.0    2E7       1
   10      210E7   7850.0    1E7       0

4.2.5.3.3.9. Rigid link Properties

Members that are specified as rigid links (MType=3), have their properties defined in the rigid link properties table. The table lists the material density (MatDens) for each rigid link property. The FEM representation of rigid links is given in Section 4.2.5.6.4.7.

An example of rigid link properties table is given below

----------------------- RIGID LINK PROPERTIES ------------------------------------
             1   NRigidPropSets - Number of rigid link properties
PropSetID   MatDens
  (-)       (kg/m)
   12       7850.0
    3       7000.0

4.2.5.3.3.10. Member Cosine Matrices COSM (i,j)

NCOSMs rows, one for each unique member orientation set, will need to be provided. Each row of the table will list the nine entries of the direction cosine matrices (COSM11, COSM12,…COSM33) for matrix elements. Each row is a vector in the global coordinate system for principal axes in the x, y and z directions respectively. These vectors need to be specified with an extremely high level of precision for results to be equivalent to an internal calculation.

4.2.5.3.3.11. Joint Additional Concentrated Masses

SubDyn can accept NCmass lumped masses/inertias defined at the joints. The subsequent table will have NCmass rows, in which for each joint distinguished by CMJointID (corresponding to an identifier, JointID, from the STRUCTURE JOINTS table), JMass specifies the lumped mass value, and JMXX, JMYY, JMZZ specify the mass second moments of inertia with respect to the SS coordinate system (not the element system). Latest version of SubDyn accept 6 additional columns (JMXY, JMXZ, JMYZ, MCGX, MCGY, MCGZ) to specify off-diagonal terms.

The additional mass matrix added to the node is computed in the SS system as follows:

\[\begin{split}M_\text{add}= \begin{bmatrix} m & 0 & 0 & 0 & z m & -y m \\ 0 & m & 0 & -z m & 0 & x m \\ 0 & 0 & m & y m & -x m & 0 \\ 0 & -z m & y m & J_{xx} + m (y^2+z^2) & J_{xy} - m x y & J_{xz} - m x z \\ z m & 0 & -x m & J_{xy} - m x y & J_{yy} + m (x^2+z^2) & J_{yz} - m y z \\ -y m & x m & 0 & J_{xz} - m x z & J_{yz} - m y z & J_{zz} + m (x^2+y^2)\\ \end{bmatrix}\end{split}\]

with \(m\) the parameter JMass, and \(x,y,z\), the CG offsets.

An example of concentrated mass table is given below:

     2  NCmass - Number of joints with concentrated masses; (SS coord system)
CMJointID  JMass    JMXX    JMYY    JMZZ   JMXY     JMXZ   JMYZ   MCGX  MCGY MCGZ
  (-)       (kg)  (kgm^2) (kgm^2) (kgm^2) (kgm^2) (kgm^2) (kgm^2)  (m)  (m)  (m)
   1        4090     0       0       0       0        0       0      0    0    0
   3        4.2e6    0       0     3.3e9     0        0       0      0    0    0

4.2.5.3.3.12. Output: Summary and Outfile

In this section of the input file, the user sets flags and switches for the desired output behavior.

Specifying SumPrint = TRUE causes SubDyn to generate a summary file with name OutRootName.SD.sum*. OutRootName is either specified in the SUBDYN section of the driver input file when running SubDyn in stand-alone mode, or in the FAST input file when running a coupled simulation. See Section 4.2 for summary file details.

The following two inputs specified whether mode shapes should be written to disk. OutCBModes is a flag that controls the output of the Guyan and Craig-Bampton modes. Similarly, OutFEMModes, controls the output of the FEM modes (full sytem with constraints prior to the CB-reduction). For now, only the first 30 FEM modes are written to disk, but all CB modes selected by the users are written. For both inputs, the following options are available: 0, no ouput, 1, outputs in JSON format. The JSON files contain nodes coordinates, connectivity between the nodes, displacements for each modes and nodes, and frequencies for each modes. The reading of these files should be straightforward using Matlab or Python using a JSON format parser. The files can be opened to visualize the modes using the tool viz3danim (see the live version , or its github repository).

Currently, OutCOSM is ignored. In future releases, specifying OutCOSM = TRUE will cause SubDyn to include direction cosine matrices (undeflected) in the summary file for only those members requested in the list of output channels.

Specifying OutAll = TRUE causes SubDyn to output forces and moments at all of the joints (not internal nodes). That is, the static (elastic) and dynamic (inertia) components of the three forces and three moments at the end node of each member connected to a given joint are output for all joints. These outputs are included within the OutRootName.SD.out* output file in addition to those directly specified through the output channels section below.

If OutSwtch is set to one, outputs are sent to a file with the name OutRootName.SD.out*. If OutSwtch is set to two, outputs are sent to the calling program (FAST) for writing in its main output file (not available in stand-alone mode). If OutSwtch is set to three, both file outputs occur. In stand-alone mode, setting OutSwtch to two results in no output file being produced.

If TabDelim is set to TRUE and OutSwtch is set to one, the output file OutRootName.SD.out* will be tab-delimited.

With OutDec set to an integer value greater than one, the output file data rate will be decimated, and only every OutDec-th value will be written to the file. This applies only to SubDyn’s output file (OutRootName.SD.out*)—not FAST’s.

The OutFmt and OutSFmt parameters control the formatting of SubDyn’s output file for the output data and the channel headers, respectively. SubDyn currently does not check the validity of these format strings. They need to be valid Fortran format strings. OutSFmt is used for the column header and OutFmt is used for the channel data. Therefore, in order for the headers and channel data to align properly, the width specification should match. For example:

“ES11.4” OutFmt

“A11” OutSFmt.

4.2.5.3.3.13. Member Output List

SubDyn can output load and kinematic quantities at up to nine locations for up to nine different members, for a total of 81 possible local member output locations. NMOutputs specifies the number of members that output is requested for. The user must create a table entry for each requested member. Within a row of this table, MemberID is the ID specified in the MEMBERS table, and NOutCnt specifies how many nodes along the member will generate output. NodeCnt specifies those node numbers (a separate entry on the same line for each node) for output as an integer index from the start-joint (node 1) to the end-joint (node NDiv + 1) of the member. The outputs specified in the SDOutList section determines which quantities are actually output at these locations.

4.2.5.3.3.14. Output Channels- SDOutList Section

This section specifies which quantities are output by SubDyn. Enter one or more lines containing quoted strings that in turn contain one or more output parameter names. Separate output parameter names by any combination of commas, semicolons, spaces, and/or tabs. If a parameter name is prefixed with a minus sign, “-”, underscore, “_”, or the characters “m” or “M”, SubDyn will multiply the value for that channel by –1 before writing the data. The parameters are written in the order they are listed in the input file. SubDyn allows the use of multiple lines so that users can break their lists into meaningful groups and so the lines can be shorter. Comments may also be entered after the closing quote on any of the lines. Entering a line with the string “END” at the beginning of the line or at the beginning of a quoted string found at the beginning of the line will cause SubDyn to quit scanning for more lines of channel names. Modal kinematics and member-node-, base-, and interface-related kinematic and load quantities can be selected. Member-node-related data follow the organization described in Section . If SubDyn encounters an unknown/invalid channel name, it prints an error message and halts execution. Please refer to Section 4.2.5.11 for a complete list of possible output parameters and their names.

4.2.5.3.4. SSI Input File

Individual SSI files (SSIfiles) can be provided for each restrained node, therefore the maximum number of SSIfiles is NReact. In an SSIfile, up to 21 elements for the SSI mass matrix and up to 21 SSI stiffness matrix elements can be provided. The mass and stiffness elements account for both pile and soil effects. No additional damping can be provided at this point.

The order of the elements is not important, because each element value is accompanied by a string label that identifies the actual element. The stiffness matrix accepted labels are: ‘Kxx’, ‘Kxy’, ‘Kyy’, ‘Kxz’, ‘Kyz’, ‘Kzz’, ‘Kxtx’, ‘Kytx’, ‘Kztx’, ‘Ktxtx’, ‘Kxty’, ‘Kyty’,’Kzty’, ‘Ktxty’, ‘Ktyty’, ‘Kxtz’, ‘Kytz’, ‘Kztz’, ‘Ktxtz’, ‘Ktytz’, ‘Ktztz’.

If any matrix element is not provided it will be set to infinity (i.e., machine ‘huge’) by default.

For the mass matrix the accepted labels are: ‘Mxx’,’Mxy’,’Myy’,’Mxz’,’Myz’, ‘Mzz’,’Mxtx’,’Mytx’,’Mztx’, ‘Mtxtx’, ‘Mxty’, ‘Myty’, ‘Mzty’, ‘Mtxty’, ‘Mtyty’, ‘Mxtz’, ‘Mytz’, ‘Mztz’, ‘Mtxtz’, ‘Mtytz’, ‘Mtztz’. If any matrix element is not provided it will be set to 0 by default. The labels contain ‘K’ or ‘M’ to specify stiffness or mass matrix elements, and then the directions they apply to, e.g., ‘Kxy’ refers to the force along x due to a unit displacement along y; the ‘t’ refers to the rotation about one of the ‘x’,’y’, or ’z’ axes in the global coordinate system.

Units are in SI system (N/m; N/m/rad; Nm/rad, Kg, kgm, kgm2).

Note that by selecting fixities of 1 in the various DOFs of the restrained nodes, the columns and rows associated with those DOFs will be removed, therefore the associated matrix elements will be ignored.

A sample SubDyn SSI input file is given in Section 4.2.5.11.