4.3.3. Output Files

KiteAeroDyn 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.

4.3.3.1. Echo Files

If you set the Echo flag to TRUE in the KiteAeroDyn driver file or the KiteAeroDyn primary input file, the contents of those files will be echoed to a file with the naming conventions, Basefile.ech, where Basefile is either the name of the driver input file or the KiteAeroDyn input file. The echo files are helpful for debugging your input files. The contents of an echo file will be truncated if KiteAeroDyn encounters an error while parsing an input file. The error usually corresponds to the line after the last successfully echoed line.

4.3.3.2. Summary File

KiteAeroDyn generates a summary file with the naming convention, OutFileRoot.KAD.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 KiteAeroDyn standalone, or by the KiteFAST 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.

4.3.3.3. Results Files

In standalone mode, the KiteAeroDyn time-series results are written to text-based files with the naming convention OutFileRoot.KAD.out, and OutFileRoot.VSM.out, where OutFileRoot is specified in the I/O SETTINGS section of the driver input file, if the OutSwtch parameter is set to 1 or 3. If KiteAeroDyn is coupled to KiteFAST, then KiteFAST will generate a master results file that includes the KiteAeroDyn user-requested output channel results if the OutSwtch parameter is set to 2 or 3. KiteAeroDyn will not write out its own results (KAD or VSM) if the OutSwtch parameter is set to 2. Note that the results in the OutFileRoot.VSM.out file are fixed to generate an exhaustive set of output channels for each aerodynamic node. 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 KiteAeroDyn primary input file. The column format of the KiteAeroDyn-generated files is specified using the OutFmt parameter of the driver input file.