OrcaFlex Dynamic Analysis Automation (DynaFlex Tutorial)

7/26/2018 OrcaFlex Dynamic Analysis Automation (DynaFlex Tutorial)
Gareth Fuller Follow

Full-stack Software Engineer @bitbonds / remote worker / x Subsea Engineer
Jul 22, 2016 · 14 min read
OrcaFlex Dynamic Analysis Automation

(DynaFlex Tutorial)
This tutorial will walk through the process of using DynaFlex to run
dynamic OrcaFlex analysis for a simple normal lay case. The following
will be covered:
1. DynaFlex Overview (why use DynaFlex?)
2. Introduction
3. Base File
4. Motion File
5. Setup Tab
6. Environment Tab
7. General Tab
8. Extracts Tab
9. Running Analysis
10. Results
11. Additional Information
If you would rather follow along via a screencast as opposed to reading

I have covered the same material in the video below.
DynaFlex - Orca ex Dynamic Automation Software
Screencast
https://medium.com/dynaflex-by-pdi/orcaflex-dynamic-analysis-automation-dynaflex-tutorial-26dd8bd62617 1/19
1. DynaFlex Overview
What is DynaFlex?
As simply as possible — it is a program that automates the process of

dynamic analysis using OrcaFlex.
In more detail, assuming you understand dynamic analysis using

OrcaFlex, DyanFlex takes a base case (.dat le), some input parameters
such as environmental data, post-processing limits/non-limits, and
uses this to produce a results spreadsheet detailing the limiting Hs
(signi cant wave height) along with any other post-processing extracts
speci ed.
The limiting Hs table is created for the range of wave periods and
directions, and is limited by the post-processing criteria speci ed in
DynaFlex. For the purpose of this example we have gone for:
• Wave Period Range (seconds): Tp 6s — Tp 16s in 1s increments
• Wave Direction Range (degrees): 0°–360° in 30° increments
The end result of this process is a spreadsheet that contains a sea-state

limitation table that will look something like this:
Figure 1.1
As well as the sea-state limitation table shown above, the results

spreadsheet will contain all the results for your limits and non-limits
(explained in more detail later).
Now that you have an idea of what DynaFlex produces and its purpose
we can begin this tutorial.
2. Introduction
Below is a screenshot of the DynaFlex starting window.
Figure 2.1
As you can see the rst tab is called the ‘Setup’ tab and it is where we
input the static base le to be analysed dynamically along with some
other supporting information for lling out the Results Spreadsheet.
Also note that there are three tabs in addition to ‘Setup’

— ‘Environment’, ‘General’, and ‘Extracts’ each of which needs to be
lled out. The best practice is to ll these tabs out from left to right.
3. Base File
DynaFlex is for automating the process of dynamic analysis. Therefore,
it assumes you already have a static case to be analysed dynamically. In
DynaFlex this is called the base le and should be uploaded to the
‘Setup’ tab as a .dat le.
The base le will obviously vary from analysis to analysis, however,

there are some adjustments to be made depending on what result you
are looking for.
In the results spreadsheet DynaFlex describes the wave directions as

the global wave directions. See image below.
Figure 3.1
The Head Seas, Beam Seas, and Stern Seas labels are inserted next to
the relevant direction in relation to your vessel heading. In the above
example the vessel in my base le would have to have a heading of 180°
so that a global wave heading of 0° would be Head Seas.
Figure 3.2
For the purpose of this tutorial I have created a very simple base le
that only uses the default OrcaFlex objects. The le is comprised of the
following objects:
• Default OrcaFlex vessel
• 200m long default line type
The vessel has the position and heading shown in the image below:
Figure 3.3
The 200m long exible has the properties shown in the image below:
Figure 3.4
The resulting le is a simple static normal lay case as shown in the

image below:
Figure 3.5
With our static base case created we can move on to our motion le.
4. Motion File
The motion le is only required for irregular wave analysis. To
demonstrate the full capability of DynaFlex this tutorial will perform
and irregular wave analysis. However, if regular wave analysis is
required the motion le concept can be ignored.
In general, irregular wave analysis requires at least a 3 hour storm to

capture an extreme wave sequence. Considering that the number of
cases in a case matrix will ususally be more than a few, running all for
the 3 hour duration is very time consuming. To reduce the total
simulation time, you can run a simpli ed version of each case for the 3
hour duration and extract the time origin of the extreme wave
sequence. Using this time origin you can then run each case for a
shorter duration, e.g., 100s. This ensures that an extreme event is
simulated for each case, but within a shorter simulation duration
therefore reducing the total analysis time.
The motion le is used to extract that worst case event at a critical point
on a vessel withing a 3 hour storm. The worst case event could be one
of the following:
• Maximum/minimum heave
• Maximum/minimum GZ velocity
• Maximum/minimum GZ Acceleration
• Largest rise or fall
The critical point can vary depending on the type of analysis and the
con guration of your model. For a normal lay analysis it would be the
hang-o location of the exible, for a deployment analysis it would be
the crane tip, in general it will be the location on the vessel that will
cause the system to produce the worst results if it is hit with a relevant
worst case event.
The motion le itself is created by duplicating the base le and deleting

everything in it apart from the vessel. Then we add in a default 6D buoy
at the critical location.
As mentioned above, for this example the critical location is the exible
hang-o location on the vessel. So the motion le will look something
like the following:
Figure 4.1
With the base and motion le created we can begin the DynaFlex
process.
5. Setup Tab
The setup tab inputs for this example should be as follows:
Figure 5.1
The base and motion le paths will vary depending on where you have
stored your les.
The inputs ‘Project’ down to ‘Checker’ can be whatever you like. These
inputs are simply inserted into the results spreadsheet for information.
The ‘Output Files Pre x’ is the string used to pre x the resulting
OrcaFlex simulation les produced by DynaFlex (one le for each case
in the case matrix). The output simulation les are named with the
following conventions:
[pre x][case number]-D[wave direction]-P[wave period]-Hs[ nal

Hs].sim
For example, if a case in a case matrix has a wave heading of 90°, a

wave period of 10 seconds, solves at Hs 2.4m, and is the 20th case in
the matrix then the saved output le for that case would be named the
following:
case20-D090-P10-Hs024.sim
This naming system makes it easy to browse to particular cases when

checking results.
The ‘Select Primary Vessel’ option is only relevant if there is more than
one vessel in the base le. See the DynaFlex help for more information
on this option.
With the setup tab complete we can move on to the environment tab.
6. Environment Tab
The environment tab replicates some of the OrcaFlex environment
settings, however, the main purpose of the environment tab is to set up
your case matrix.
For this example we want a case matrix that covers 0°–360° wave
headings in 30° increments and 6s–16s wave periods in 1s increments.
To do this we input the following in DynaFlex:
Figure 6.1
On a side-note, additonal rows can be added to the wave headings table for
the purpose of focusing on speci c wave direction combinations. For
example, for deployment analysis if free to weathervane, you could set it to
head or stern seas ±30°, therefore cutting out unesserary wave directions,
reducing the number of cases in the case matrix, and reducing the total
simulation time.
As for the other inputs:
The ‘Time Origin Method’ equates to the worst case method discussed
in the motion le step. It is the method used in the motion extraction
process to get a time origin to run the main simulation at.
Figure 6.2
For example, if we select the ‘Max Heave in 3 Hour Storm’ motion

method, for every case (wave heading/period combination) in the case
matrix the motion le is run for a 3 hour storm and the time origin of
the maximum heave in that 3 hour storm is extracted. This time origin
is then used in the equivalent cases when the actual simulation is run
with the base les.
For this tutorial we will stick with the maximum heave method.
The ‘Wave Type’ option is the equivalent to picking the wave type in an
OrcaFlex model. If the analysis is an irregular wave analysis then only
irregular wave types will be available and visa versa for regular wave
analysis.
Figure 6.3
For more information on wave type options including the bypass

motions option please see the relevant DynaFlex help section.
For this tutorial we will use a JONSWAP wave type.
The ‘Hs’ options are simple but behind the scenes this is where
DynaFlex does it’s work.
Figure 6.4
The max and min Hs de ne how the DynaFlex algorithm nds the
optimum Hs for each case in the case matrix. I don’t want to go into too
much detail here but basically DynaFlex runs each case at the Max Hs
rst, if that fails it runs the case at the min Hs, if that fails it records a
total failure. If the case passes at the Min Hs, DynaFlex knows the
optimum is somewhere between the min and max and uses an
algorithm to nd the answer (optimum Hs) as quickly as possible.
Finally the ‘Wave Seeds’ options de ne how many seeds the analysis
should try.
Figure 6.5
There is some complexity in how and when to use multiple seeds, it is

beyond the scope of this tutorial. In general stick to a single seed
per/project. If more conservative results are required adding more
seeds becomes an option. For more information on how DynaFlex uses
multiple seeds see the relevant DynaFlex help section.
With environment tab complete we can move on to the general tab.
7. General Tab
The ‘General’ tab replicates some of the inputs within the general
settings in an OrcaFlex le.
Figure 7.1
It currently only allows you to specify the build up duration and

simulation duration. The simulation duration is split on either side of
the time origin extracted for each case in the motion method process,
i.e., for a 100s simulation duration the simulation will start 50s before
the time origin and end 50s after.
For irregular wave analyses the build up and simulation duration's are
speci ed in seconds as shown above. However, for regular wave these
inputs change slightly and expect a factor as shown below:
Figure 7.2
The inputs are used as factors of the wave period. So using the the
inputs shown above as an example, the build up stage will be 2 times
the wave period of the case being run in the case matrix. If the case
currently being run is a 7s wave period then the build up stage duration
would be 14s and the simulation duration would be 5 times 7s, so 35s.
For this tutorial we are running an irregular wave analysis so we will

use the inputs shown in the rst screenshot (Figure 7.1).
With the general tab complete we can move on to the extract tab.
8. Extracts Tab
The ‘Extracts’ tab is where the limitations of the analysis are set. It is
also where the results you want to be extracted are de ned. The image
below shows the extract table.
Figure 8.1
Each row in the extract table becomes a results table in the results
spreadsheet.
Notice that the rst 5 columns of the extract table are exactly the same
as an OrcaFlex post-processing spreadsheet.
Figure 8.2
That is because the extract tab works exactly like the post-processing
spreadsheet in that you specify the results you want to extract after the
analysis is complete. However, the extract tab has a couple of
additional and important columns:
• Limiting Value
• Unit
• Label
The limiting value column is the most important. By specifying a

limiting value you are setting a limit for the analysis. For example, in
our normal lay analysis a logical extract would be the exible top
tension. This would be input like the following in the extract table:
Figure 8.3
Notice the limiting value. I’ve set a limit on the exible top tension of
12Te (117.72kN). The unit column is set automatically by DynaFlex
and the limiting value that is input should correspond to that unit.
When each case in the case matrix is run, DynaFlex will check the
exible top tension and if it’s above the limiting value of 117.72kN the
case will have to be re-run until a suitable Hs is found.
If the limiting value cell is left blank then the extract is considered a
non-limit and the extract speci ed is simply recorded in the results
spreadsheet and has no e ect on the limiting sea-states produced.
Any number of limits and non-limits can be set in the extract table.
To complete the setup of this tutorial example I have added a few more
extracts which you can see in the screenshot below.
Figure 8.4
This limits the analysis by the exible top tension (12Te limit) and the
exible’s MBR (2.5m limit).
Now that we have set our extracts and limits we can run the analysis.
9. Running Analysis
To run the analysis, open the run console by clicking on the ‘Run’
button shown below.
Figure 9.1
The run console displays the progress of the analysis as it processes all
the cases in the case matrix.
Before we start the analysis, specify the number of concurrent

simulations that DynaFlex can run. This is similar to OrcaFlex’s ‘Set
thread count’ in that it speci es how many OrcaFlex simulations
DynaFlex can run at any one time. DynaFlex will set this input to your
computer’s core count minus 1.
With the concurrent simulation count set we can click ‘Start’ and let the
analysis run.
10. Results
The run console and progress bar will show when the analysis is
complete and state the total simulation time (as shown in image
below).
Figure 10.1
The resulting les produced by DynaFlex are saved in a folder called

‘output_ les_1’ which will be in the same location as the base.dat le
that was uploaded to DynaFlex at the beginning of this process.
In the output_ les folder you will nd an OrcaFlex (.sim) le for every
case in the case matrix (naming convention explained in Section 5.).
These are the nalised simulations for each wave period/heading
combination saved at the optium Hs.
In the output_ les folder you will also nd the results spreadsheet,
named as:
[analysis title] - Stack[number] - results.xlsx
So for this tutorial the results spreadsheet is called:
Flexible Normal Lay Example - Stack 1 - results.xlsx
If you open that le you will nd the results of the analysis which
should look something like this:
Figure 10.2
As you can see the results are comprised of a sea-state limitation table
followed by results tables for each of the speci ed extracts (limits and
non-limits).
The results spreadsheet has a total of 5 tabs, shown below:
10.3
The most important is ‘Formatted Results’ which contains the analysis

results as shown in Figure 10.2 above.
The ‘Input’ tab lists all the inputs used in the DynaFlex interface,
including the extract table inputs. This helps when coming back to the
results after a period of time, or when a reviewer looks at the results, in
understanding what went into the program to produce these results.
Figure 10.2 — Input Tab
The ‘Simulation Log’ lists every simulation run by OrcaFlex throughout

the analysis and the status of each simulation run. This tab is useful in
identifying unstable simulation failures.
Figure 10.3 — Simulation Log Tab
The ‘Raw Results’ tab is identical to the ‘Formatted Results’ tab except
for cases where there is total failure, i.e., a case fails at the minimum
Hs, this tab will report the results for those cases. Whereas, in the
formatted results, the results for total failure cases are not reported and
are instead signi ed with a dash. This is so that maximum and
minimum values for no-go cases are not reported.
Finally, the ‘Post-processing’ tab is an OrcaFlex post-processing sheet.

This can be used to post-process the simulation les created by
DynaFlex. However, DynaFlex has it’s own post-processing
functionality which will be explained in more detail in another tutorial.
11. Additional Information
One important feature of DynaFlex that I have not touched on in this

tutorial is stacks.
Figure 11.1
Stacks are for running multiple sets of analysis at the same time. In this
tutorial we set up and analysed one normal lay case. With stacks you
can set up and run multiple cases. For example, if it was a deployment
analysis and we wanted to run several stages in the deployment process
we could do one stage per stack, ll out all the tabs up for each stage,
and then run. DynaFlex will automatically process one stack after the
other until complete.
Another feature that I have not covered in this tutorial is the DynaFlex
post-processing mode. This mode allows the user to quickly edit the
extracts that were originally speci ed and then re-run the analysis.
DynaFlex gures out, based on the new extracts (limits and non-limits)
which cases need to be re-run to nd new optimum Hs’s and which only
require re-extraction. Post-processing will be covered in a coming
tutorial.
This tutorial was written by Gareth Fuller working at PDi (Project

Development International LTD). DynaFlex is PDi’s proprietary software
for OrcaFlex dynamic analysis automation. For more information please
contact software@pdi-ltd.com.

OrcaFlex Dynamic Analysis Automation (DynaFlex Tutorial)

Diunggah oleh

Informasi Dokumen

Hak Cipta

Format Tersedia

Bagikan dokumen Ini

Bagikan atau Tanam Dokumen

Opsi Berbagi

Apakah menurut Anda dokumen ini bermanfaat?

Apakah konten ini tidak pantas?

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

OrcaFlex Dynamic Analysis Automation (DynaFlex Tutorial)

Diunggah oleh

Hak Cipta:

Format Tersedia

7/26/2018 OrcaFlex Dynamic Analysis Automation (DynaFlex Tutorial)

Gareth Fuller Follow

OrcaFlex Dynamic Analysis Automation

1. DynaFlex Overview (why use DynaFlex?)

11. Additional Information

If you would rather follow along via a screencast as opposed to reading

DynaFlex - Orca ex Dynamic Automation Software

As simply as possible — it is a program that automates the process of

In more detail, assuming you understand dynamic analysis using

• Wave Period Range (seconds): Tp 6s — Tp 16s in 1s increments

• Wave Direction Range (degrees): 0°–360° in 30° increments

The end result of this process is a spreadsheet that contains a sea-state

As well as the sea-state limitation table shown above, the results

Also note that there are three tabs in addition to ‘Setup’

The base le will obviously vary from analysis to analysis, however,

In the results spreadsheet DynaFlex describes the wave directions as

• Default OrcaFlex vessel

• 200m long default line type

The resulting le is a simple static normal lay case as shown in the

In general, irregular wave analysis requires at least a 3 hour storm to

• Largest rise or fall

The motion le itself is created by duplicating the base le and deleting

[pre x][case number]-D[wave direction]-P[wave period]-Hs[ nal

For example, if a case in a case matrix has a wave heading of 90°, a

This naming system makes it easy to browse to particular cases when

As for the other inputs:

For example, if we select the ‘Max Heave in 3 Hour Storm’ motion

For more information on wave type options including the bypass

For this tutorial we will use a JONSWAP wave type.

There is some complexity in how and when to use multiple seeds, it is

With environment tab complete we can move on to the general tab.

It currently only allows you to specify the build up duration and

For this tutorial we are running an irregular wave analysis so we will

The limiting value column is the most important. By specifying a

Before we start the analysis, specify the number of concurrent

The resulting les produced by DynaFlex are saved in a folder called

[analysis title] - Stack[number] - results.xlsx

So for this tutorial the results spreadsheet is called:

Flexible Normal Lay Example - Stack 1 - results.xlsx

The results spreadsheet has a total of 5 tabs, shown below:

The most important is ‘Formatted Results’ which contains the analysis

Figure 10.2 — Input Tab

The ‘Simulation Log’ lists every simulation run by OrcaFlex throughout

Figure 10.3 — Simulation Log Tab

Finally, the ‘Post-processing’ tab is an OrcaFlex post-processing sheet.

11. Additional Information

One important feature of DynaFlex that I have not touched on in this

This tutorial was written by Gareth Fuller working at PDi (Project

Anda mungkin juga menyukai