OpenVSP Version 3.16.0 Released

[Rob McDonald]

This version is long overdue, but it has lots of good stuff -- should
be well worth the wait. Not much of a theme here, but bits and pieces
all over the place.

We're in the process of migrating the www.openvsp.org web server. If
the site goes down in the next few days, don't dismay, it'll come back
soon. Hopefully this doesn't cause problems with obtaining this
version.

VSPAERO gets a big update to version 4.4.1. The binary file format
has changed, so you must use the new viewer and slicer. There is also
a VSPAERO test script that has received a lot of work.

New export types/formats -- airfoil stack, simple PMARC 12 files, OBJ
from MeshGeom. DegenGeom now available from API.

To round it out, some propeller modeling improvements, and significant
speedups to the improved intersection curves recently released.

Features:
- Airfoil stack export
- Simple PMARC 12 export
- MeshGeom OBJ export
- DegenGeom support to API
- Structures small improvements and bug fixes.
- Propeller modeling improvements (sweep and construction line)
- Update VSPAERO to version 4.4.1
. ADB file format change.
. Supersonic solutions should work again.
. New surface pressure calculation method
. Fixed a 2 floating around in the unsteady aero forces
. Fixed a bug in the time accurate wake code.
. Steady state rotor calculations.
. UnSteady rotor calculations.

Bug Fixes:
- Faster Intersection Curves
- Many fixes to VSPAERO test script

[Cheol-Kyun Choi]

Hello? Rob.

Could you explain about "Supersonic solutions should work again"?

When I run the VSPAero at last(ver. 3.13.3), panel method accuracy was not so good at the supersonic.

and also, over the M=1.4, VLM also has a bad accuracy.

Is there any change about supersonic analysis?

2018년 3월 26일 월요일 오후 2시 15분 3초 UTC+9, Rob McDonald 님의 말:

[Rob McDonald]

The thick-surface panel code does not work for supersonic flow. Only
the VLM method works for supersonic.

The VSPAERO developer (not me) found and fixed some problems with
supersonic flow. I do not know the details.

The most detailed information I have is in this commit message:
https://github.com/ramcdona/OpenVSP/commit/9bbed3ff784475fd8f5719f14df541e1c116b175

I suggest you give it a try and see if you get improved results.

Rob

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[Mike Henson]

Hello Rob,

Thanks for this update.  Regarding DegenGeom support to API...

Can you provide guidance on where the Python-supported DegenGeom functions and variables are found?

I git these hits on these header files for DegenGeom...

geom_core/DegenGeom.h
geom_core/Geom.h
geom_core/MeshGeom.h
geom_core/TMesh.h
geom_core/Vehicle.h

Thanks,
Mike

[Rob McDonald]

It was added to the 'Analysis Manager' -- a generic name/value pair
mechanism for setting up analyses within OpenVSP. The results from
Analysis Manager are put into the Results Manager, another name/value
pair mechanism.

There is a 'TestAnalysis.vspscript' example included with OpenVSP --
you can convert it to Python if you'd like.

Analysis: DegenGeom
Inputs:
Set 0
WriteCSVFlag 1
WriteMFileFlag 1

Pretty much all the related changes were made in this commit
https://github.com/OpenVSP/OpenVSP/commit/070e3f16ec09339d897f45498e4b83f5360eead3

If that doesn't get you started in the right direction, I'll see if
Alex has some example code he can post.

Rob

[Mike Henson]

Rob,

Thanks for your reply.

In previous release, we used the Python API to make these calls
                        vsp.SetComputationFileName( vsp.DEGEN_GEOM_M_TYPE, fileName )
                        vsp.ComputeDegenGeom( vsp.SET_ALL, vsp.DEGEN_GEOM_M_TYPE )

This works well but requires use of Matlab to parse the output into data structures.

Is it now possible to access the DEGEN_GEOM object and C++ struct data (DegenSurface, DegenStick, DegenPoint, ...) programmatically via Python, and avoid writing/parsing DegenGeom files?

Thanks,
Mike

[Rob McDonald]

Yes,

All the DegenGeom results are available through calls to the
ResultsMgr API in-memory. No need to write or parse files.

Rob

[Mike Henson]

Rob,

I have made a little progress using the "TestAnalysis.vspscript" with the suggested inputs.  I seem to get access to the top-level data objects...

snippet from PrintResult()...

                [result_name]       [type]      [#]     [current values-->]
                Analysis_Duration_Sec1          1       0.951000
                Degen_BlankGeoms    2           1
                Degen_DegenGeoms    2           1       IKZLCGN XDKLQAX RIJLYDZ

From here, can the DegenGeom nested data/structures be accessed using the native C++ variable names found in geom_core/DegenGeom.h (i.e. IKZLCGN.nvec, XDKLQAX.zcamber, RIJYDZ.xle, ...), or must one use recursive calls to the API functions (GetIntResults, GetDoubleResults, GetString Results, ...)?

If Alex has a simple script that can be posted, that would be great.

Thanks for the kind help.

Regards,
Mike