Here are some practical steps to reduce simulation time. Each method should be used with caution as simulation fidelity will be reduced.
- Reduce the number of modes in the model.
- Increase the minimum time step in “Simulation control”
- In earlier versions of bladed you can use the “Blade station economiser” in “Simulation control”
- The time step will also be constrained by things like the controller time step and dynamic wake time step. You can try increasing these however care must be taken if the controller has been design for a particular discrete time step. Also this will not help if the time step is usually smaller than this during the simulation.
- The “Refine deflections” option in outputs will save some simulation time if unchecked but please look in the theory manual to understand what this is doing before removing it.
- You can reduce the number of members in the tower or blade. If the blade is particularly detailed this could help as aerodynamics are calculated at every blade station.
For more detailed guidance on simplifying the model, especially in the context of Bladed Hardware Test, click here to view the "Model simplification for realtime execution BHTM" document.