DLC Generation - Refactor and New Cases

[dzalkind]

Purpose

Refactor and expand the DLC generator to follow the case input structure commonly used in aeroelasticse.

Major changes:

• Refactor of the DLC generator to follow the case_inputs structure already used in in aeroelasticse (

  WEIS/weis/dlc_driver/dlc_generator.py

  Line 607 in 3a1fd3d

  generic_case_inputs.append(['total_time','transient_time']) # group 0, (usually constants) turbine variables, DT, aero_modeling

  )
• Modeling options will now output exact DLC configurations that can be re-used as inputs (https://github.com/WISDEM/WEIS/blob/DLC_RefactorCaseInputs/docs/dlc_generator.rst#modeling-option-outputs)
• Re-naming of the cases with DLCs (e.g., DLC1.1_0_weis_job_00.fst). I'm open to feedback from the stakeholders here.
• Add DLCs (AEP with constant TI, 2.X, 3.X, 4.X, and 7.X)

Minor changes:

• Add modeling option (write_stdout) for writing individual OpenFAST outputs to text files

To verify we are reproducing the functionality of the previous DLC driver, we compared the old simulations (blue) versus the new (red):
weis_dlc_verification1.pdf

weis_dlc_verification2.pdf

I think the differences that exist are acceptable, including

• Could not get a perfect match of the wave seeds in DLCs 1.4 and 1.5
• Disabling unsteady aero in DLC 1.4 by default now, resulting in cleaner simulations
• Slight difference in IEA-15 hub height used to generate DLC 1.5 winds
• DLC 5.1 is now a proper emergency shut down, where GenTq drops to 0 at the shutdown time

Type of change

What types of change is it?
Select the appropriate type(s) that describe this PR

• Bugfix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (non-backwards-compatible fix or feature)
• Code style update (formatting, renaming)
• Refactoring (no functional changes, no API changes)
• Documentation update
• Maintenance update
• Other (please describe)

Testing

The previous test_DLC_generator.py still applies.

Example 05 tests all the land-based DLCs.

Checklist

Put an x in the boxes that apply.

• I have run existing tests which pass locally with my changes
• I have added new tests or examples that prove my fix is effective or that my feature works
• I have added necessary documentation

[dzalkind]

I think this is ready to merge into develop. I'd do that after we merge develop into main so this can be exercised a bit before releasing.

I added some developer documentation to explain the new functions a bit. Please let me know if there's anything unclear.

I have a set up on kestrel with all the DLCs that we could use a test. Running all the cases fully and actually checking them is probably too heavy for CI. I did a pretty thorough verification against our original DLC generator, and the results are attached in the post for this PR. I'm happy to go through this with anyone that uses the DLC generator heavily.

[dzalkind]

Following our in-person code review today, I think we are okay to merge this once tests pass.

I updated the AEP TI calculation here:

WEIS/weis/dlc_driver/dlc_generator.py

Line 410 in eeeae10

idlc.IECturbc = self.IECturb.NTM(idlc.URef) * dlc_options['TI_factor'] / idlc.URef * 100

Some future wish list items:

• Making the seeds serial in integer order
• Adding a PSF table
• An example/configuration for generating the inputs without running