SNL-WaterPower / CACTUS

CACTUS (Code for Axial and Cross-flow TUrbine Simulation) is a turbine performance simulation code, based on a free wake vortex method, to study wind turbines and marine hydrokinetic (MHK) devices.

CACTUS (Code for Axial and Cross-flow TUrbine Simulation)

CACTUS (Code for Axial and Cross-flow TUrbine Simulations), developed at Sandia National Laboratories, is a turbine simulation code based on a free wake vortex method.

Compiling

CACTUS can be compiled via CMake. For details, see doc/compile.md

Tests

Simple regression tests are included. After compiling, navigate to test/RegTest/ and run:

PATH=$PATH:../../bin pytest runreg.py

Directory Structure

• bin: Default target for compiled executables
• DAKOTA: DAKOTA drivers (by Jon Murray) and examples
• doc: Documentation -- user's manual, install instructions, DAKOTA drivers manual, relevant publications
• make: Makefiles for various compilers and platforms
• src: Source code
• test: Test cases (regression tests, example HAWT/VAWT input files, airfoil files)

Post-processing

Tools for post-processing data from CACTUS simulations are available in the CACTUS-tools repository.

References

For details about the development of CACTUS, please see

• Murray, J., and Barone, M., “The Development of CACTUS, a Wind and Marine Turbine Performance Simulation Code,” 49th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition, Reston, Virginia: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2011, pp. 1–21.

Disclaimer

A CACTUS model V&V studies (Michelen et al. 2014, Wosnik et al. 2016) for cross-flow hydrokinetic turbines demonstrated it accurately predicts performance characteristics for axial-flow turbines, but it should not be used for cross-flow geometries.

• Michelen, C., V.S. Neary, J. Murray, and M. Barone, M. (2014). CACTUS open-source code for hydrokinetic turbine design and analysis: Model performance evaluation and public dissemination as open-source tool. Proceedings of 2nd Marine Energy Technology Symposium 2014 (METS2014), at the 7th Annual Global Marine Renewable Energy Conference (GMREC 2014), Seattle, WA, April 15-18.

• Wosnik M., Bachant P., Neary V.S., and A.W. Murphy (2016). Evaluation of Design & Analysis Code, CACTUS, for Predicting Cross-flow Hydrokinetic Turbine Performance. SAND2016-9787, September 2016. 34 pages.