HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.7.0 - MoorDyn mooring integration

Highlights

MoorDyn mooring integration - MoorDyn v2.6.1 is now coupled as a Git submodule, so you can run catenary and taut mooring analysis inside Chrono-based WEC simulations. Mooring forces are applied at each timestep alongside hydrostatic, radiation, and excitation. Configure via MoorDynConfig and HydroSystem::SetMoorDynConfig(); optional at build time with HYDROCHRONO_HAVE_MOORDYN.

RM3 mooring verification - Cross-code comparison against the WEC-Sim/MoorDyn co-simulation of the RM3 two-body point absorber with a 3-line catenary mooring. Automated CTest checks body heave and fairlead tensions; typical agreement is correlation ≈ 0.998 and max tension error ≈ 1.8% of mean. Reference data and comparison plots are documented in the verification section of the docs.

Real-time mooring visualization - The VSG GUI draws mooring line geometry from MoorDyn each frame and colours lines by instantaneous tension (blue–red gradient), so you can visually check mooring loads during a run.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/84a79142-62e8-4efa-8a2d-b5f97f5f8b29

What's New

MoorDyn Mooring

MoorDyn v2.6.1 - Integrated as a submodule; optional build with HYDROCHRONO_HAVE_MOORDYN
Force coupling - MoorDyn fairlead forces applied in HydroSystem each step with other hydro forces
MoorDynConfig - Config struct and SetMoorDynConfig() API; must be set before first DoStepDynamics()
RM3 mooring demo - YAML-driven case: RM3 float + plate, 3 lines × 2 segments (anchor–clump, clump–fairlead), runnable with run_hydrochrono
Mooring line visualization - VSG renders line nodes from MoorDyn with dynamic tension colormap
RM3 mooring verification test - CTest comparison vs WEC-Sim/MoorDyn reference (body motions + FairTen4/5/6); plots and tolerances in tests/verification/rm3_mooring/

Core / Build

hydroc/math_constants.h - Centralised M_PI (and related constants) replacing per-file definitions
IRF processing - Truncation separated from smoothing/tapering in RadiationKernelProcessing
RegularWave - Encapsulated with SetPeriod() / SetOmega() accessors
Build fixes - HDF5 target conflicts and Eigen3 detection resolved for cross-machine builds; Chrono API and test infrastructure updated

Known Issues

OSWEC validated with GMRES only (SPARSE_QR not yet confirmed stable)
PSOR solver incompatible with added-mass assembly (stiffness/damping matrix errors; other solvers pass)
MoorDyn is not included in the Windows package when built without the MoorDyn submodule; clone with --recurse-submodules or init MoorDyn for mooring support

Install (Windows x64)

Download HydroChrono-0.7.0-win64.zip
Unzip - all required DLLs included
(Chrono, HDF5, yaml-cpp, VSG, MSVC runtime)

Run a simulation:

.\run_hydrochrono.exe path\to\input_directory

Run the full regression suite:
```
.\RUN-TESTS.ps1
```

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by dav-og about 2 months ago

HydroChrono -

Highlights

State-space radiation damping — a new O(1)-per-timestep alternative to convolution-based radiation. Instead of convolving the full RIRF kernel history at every step, the kernel is approximated as a sum of exponential and oscillatory modes and propagated via a compact state vector. Selectable via C++ API or YAML (radiation_method: state_space). Performance gains range from modest to significant depending on kernel complexity and simulation length — up to 19.6x on the sphere decay benchmark.

Irregular wave excitation reworked — the time-domain excitation convolution is replaced by a pre-computed frequency-domain transfer function, and the irregular wave model is decoupled from simulation parameters (simulation_dt_, simulation_duration_ removed from IrregularWaveParams), clearing the path for adaptive time integration.

What's New

State-Space Radiation

RadiationStateSpaceModel — exponential and oscillatory mode support with exact exponential time integration
RadiationStateSpaceFitter — Hankel-SVD system identification matching the WEC-Sim / BEMIO approach
RadiationStateSpaceComponent — force component integrating with HydroSystem
RadiationMethod enum and StateSpaceOptions configuration struct
YAML keys: radiation_method, ss_max_order, ss_r2_threshold, output_kernel_fit
Kernel-fit diagnostics (R² values and mode counts per DOF pair) optionally written to HDF5 output
Unit tests for model and fitter
Regression tests: sphere/OSWEC decay and irregular waves (state-space vs convolution)

Wave Class Improvements

Frequency-domain excitation transfer function for irregular waves — O(N_freq) per DOF per timestep instead of O(N_irf × N_freq)
Irregular wave model decoupled from simulation parameters; nfrequencies_ is now a required parameter
Redundant num_bodies removed from wave classes — set automatically in HydroSystem::AddWaves()

Known Issues

OSWEC validated with GMRES only (SPARSE_QR not yet confirmed stable)
PSOR solver incompatible with added-mass assembly (stiffness/damping matrix errors; other solvers pass)

Install (Windows x64)

Download HydroChrono-0.6.0-win64.zip
Unzip — all required DLLs included
(Chrono, HDF5, yaml-cpp, VSG, MSVC runtime)

Run a simulation:

.\HydroChrono.exe path\to\input_directory

Run the full regression suite:
```
.\RUN-TESTS.ps1
```

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by dav-og about 2 months ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.5.0 – Real-Time VSG Ocean Visualization, ChLoadHydrodynamics Added Mass & Improvements to Automated Regression Reporting

🚢 HydroChrono 0.5.0

HydroChrono 0.5.0 introduces real-time free-surface visualization using VulkanSceneGraph (VSG), switches to Chrono’s native added-mass assembly, and significantly strengthens automated regression reporting.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/75a450f1-ba90-4e02-9659-59072dc4e36b

This release improves numerical consistency, visualization capability, and reproducibility while preserving the modular hydrodynamics architecture introduced in 0.4.0.

Highlights

Real-time VSG free-surface rendering driven directly by the wave model
Default added-mass assembly via ChLoadHydrodynamics
Legacy ChLoadAddedMass retained behind compile flag
Automated headless regression test reporting with PDF output
Multibody excitation phase bug fix
Full regression suite passing (Sphere, OSWEC, RM3, F3OF)

What’s New

Visualization
- Animated free-surface mesh with per-vertex normals
- Physically based rendering ocean materials and configurable grid resolution
- Radiated wave overlay surface
- Modular VSG components (vsg_water_surface, vsg_radiation_surface, etc.)
Core & Hydrodynamics
- Default added-mass now assembled using ChLoadHydrodynamics
- Determinism unit test across all Chrono solvers
- Wave model extensions:
  GetElevationGradientXY()
  GetElevationForVisualization()
- Improved irregular wave surface evaluation performance (parallelism + caching)
Testing & Reporting
- Regression tests fully headless (no GUI dependency)
- Standardised comparison plots with error metrics
- Consolidated PDF report per test suite run
- RM3 output retained at full double precision
Packaging
- CPack bundles HydroChrono and HydroChronoGUI DLLs
- Transitive dependency collection (Chrono, VSG, yaml-cpp, draco)
- OpenMP runtime explicitly included
- Fully self-contained Windows x64 distribution

Fixed

Regular wave excitation phase indexing for multibody systems
YAML runner: LoadSolverData not invoked due to structure mismatch
YAML runner: mesh path resolution when m_script_directory was empty
OSWEC solver divergence (switched from SPARSE_QR to GMRES)
Regression report image path handling

Known Issues

OSWEC validated with GMRES only (SPARSE_QR not yet confirmed stable)
PSOR solver incompatible with added-mass assembly
(stiffness/damping matrix errors; other solvers pass)

Install (Windows x64)

Download HydroChrono-0.5.0-win64.zip
Unzip — all required DLLs included
(Chrono, HDF5, yaml-cpp, VSG, MSVC runtime)

Run a simulation:

  .\HydroChrono.exe path\to\input_directory

Run the full regression suite:
```
  .\RUN-TESTS.ps1
```

HydroChrono 0.5.0 extends the 0.4.0 modular architecture with real-time visualization and stronger numerical verification infrastructure.

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by dav-og 2 months ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.4.0 – Major Refactor with Modular Hydrodynamics Core, New HydroSystem Façade & Chrono Coupling Layer

HydroChrono 0.4.0 introduces a fully modular hydrodynamics architecture with a clean HydroSystem façade and a dedicated Chrono coupling layer. This release preserves all existing behaviour while making HydroChrono cleaner, safer, and easier to extend.

Highlights

New HydroSystem façade — the main user-facing entry point (replaces TestHydro)
Chrono-free HydroForces core for hydrostatics, radiation, and excitation
Dedicated ChronoHydroCoupler linking Chrono bodies to the hydrodynamics core
Unified C++ and YAML workflows (both now use the same hydrodynamics engine)
Radiation logic consolidated into a single component (IRF processing, history, convolution)
Exceptions replace critical assert()s; public headers cleaned and namespaced
Full regression test suite passing (PDF included)

What’s New

Core
- Introduced hydrochrono::hydro::HydroForces, SystemState, BodyForces, GeneralizedForce
- Modular force components: Hydrostatics, Radiation, Excitation
- Standardised 6-DOF indexing and sign conventions
Façade & Coupling
- HydroSystem is the new user-facing class (aliases TestHydro and HydroForces retained for compatibility)
- New ChronoHydroCoupler builds SystemState and bridges to the core
Modules & Layout
- Clean directory structure: core/, chrono/, radiation/, waves/, config/
- New radiation modules for IRF preprocessing and convolution
Robustness & Cleanup
- Replaced assert() with descriptive exceptions
- Removed using namespace from public headers
- Explicit Chrono includes; improved file-level documentation

Install (Windows x64)

Download HydroChrono-0.4.0-win64.zip
Unzip — all required DLLs included (Chrono, HDF5, yaml-cpp, Irrlicht, MSVC)
Run regression tests:
python .\tests\run_hydrochrono\run_tests.py --all

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by dav-og 5 months ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.2.8 - Fixes for gcc compilation and wave kinematics

This patch fixes the following issues:

Fix compilation issue with gcc for demos (+ explicitly include <algorithm>)
Add wave stretching option for regular waves
Deep water check done with a common function (condition k*h>89.4 to be considered deep water)
Wheeler wave stretching done with a common function, and corrected when mwl=/=0

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by tridelat 5 months ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.3.2 – CLI polish & YAML/HDF5 & GUI robustness improvements

HydroChrono 0.3.2 focuses on CLI polish, robust wave inputs, exporting irregular wave data to HDF5 files, and a fix to the GUI pause/play button.

Highlights

Progress bar updates in-place and respects --quiet
Wave parsing shorthands: h/H, t/T/tp/TP/p/P, amplitude/A - with validation
HDF5 export of irregular inputs: frequencies, spectrum, and free-surface time/eta
Larger Play/Pause button with fixed label

What’s new

CLI
- Progress bar fixed
Waves
- Shorthand keys for height/period/amplitude
- Validation errors for missing/invalid regular wave inputs
- Irregular waves: corrected forcing, reproducible via seed
Export
- Writes /inputs/simulation/waves/irregular/{frequencies_hz, spectral_densities, free_surface_time, free_surface_eta}
GUI
- Enlarged Play/Pause button and improved text rendering

Install (Windows x64)

Download HydroChrono-0.3.2-win64.zip
Unzip; all required DLLs included (Chrono, HDF5, yaml-cpp, Irrlicht, MSVC)
Run regression tests:
python .\tests\run_hydrochrono\run_tests.py --all

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by dav-og 6 months ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.3.1 – 5× faster radiation damping with Savitzky–Golay smoothing, SIMD & Linux fixes, and --profile support

HydroChrono 0.3.1 delivers major refactoring and performance improvements across hydrostatics and radiation damping, adds profiling and smoothing features, and introduces full Linux build support.

Highlights

Refactored hydrostatics and radiation damping modules for clarity, safety, and maintainability
Unified Eigen-only math backend; resolves vectorization/SIMD compatibility issues
Refactored & Parallelized radiation damping convolution integral (5× faster)
Added Savitzky–Golay smoothing and tapering for more stable convolution results
New --profile flag for runtime performance breakdowns
Auto-enable Irrlicht GUI when IrrlichtDir is configured
Fixed and verified Linux builds

What’s new

Core
- Refactored hydrostatics and radiation damping code paths
- Parallel convolution integral with Savitzky–Golay smoothing
- Unified Eigen-only vectorization backend
CLI
- Added --profile flag for timing and performance reporting
Build
- Linux build support (tested on Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04)
- Updated build.ps1 with Irrlicht auto-detection and improved dependency handling

Install (Windows x64)

Download HydroChrono-0.3.1-win64.zip
Unzip; all required DLLs included (Chrono, HDF5, yaml-cpp, Irrlicht, MSVC)
Run the regression tests:
python .\tests\run_hydrochrono\run_tests.py --all

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by dav-og 6 months ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.3 - YAML CLI app with HDF5 outputs, logging and regression tests

HydroChrono 0.3 delivers a YAML-driven CLI app, portable Windows packaging, consistent HDF5 outputs, and a new regression test suite for the main binary - run_hydrochrono.exe.

Highlights

New CLI app: run_hydrochrono.exe (YAML-driven)
HDF5 writer for analysis-ready results
Unified logging API
Regression tests for the CLI (CTest + Python)
Deterministic Windows build; packaged DLLs (Chrono, HDF5, MSVC); tests ON by default
Updated website documentation with quick start guides and new build instructions

What’s new

CLI/YAML
- YAML parsing (SEA-Stack-IO schema)
- CLI for running the code
- Demos and batch runs included
I/O
- HDF5 writer; safe open/write handling
Logging
- Unified API + backend; consistent usage across src/
Tests
- Python suite with plotting: python .\tests\run_hydrochrono\run_tests.py --all
Build
- build.ps1 for VS2022 x64 with fixed package discovery
- Packaged HDF5 + MSVC runtimes; Chrono/yaml-cpp/Irrlicht DLL support
- Tests enabled by default

Install (Windows x64)

Download HydroChrono-0.3-win64.zip
Unzip; all required DLLs included (HDF5, MSVC; Chrono/yaml-cpp/Irrlicht)
Run the Python test suite with plotting: python .\tests\regression\run_hydrochrono\run_tests.py --all

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by dav-og 7 months ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.7 – Testing framework & Windows build script

Highlights

Introduces regression testing framework and helpers.
Migrates suites: sphere decay, RM3, OSWEC, F3OF DT1/DT2/DT3.
Unifies reference data & comparison scripts; improves test logging.
Adds quick-build.ps1 and build-config.example.json; updates README with config-driven Windows build steps.
CMake: link Chrono/Eigen as imported targets (PUBLIC) and make include discovery robust when Chrono_DIR points to a build tree.
Updates .gitignore.
No breaking changes.

Compatibility

Project Chrono v9.0.1
Windows 10/11, VS 2022, CMake 3.18+, HDF5 1.10.8+, Eigen 3.4+
Irrlicht optional (required for GUI helper)

Windows quick build

# from repo root
copy build-config.example.json build-config.json
# edit build-config.json with your local paths, then:
.\quick-build.ps1 -Clean
ctest -C Release --output-on-failure --test-dir build

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by dav-og 7 months ago

HydroChrono - v0.2.6 – Chrono 9.0.1 Upgrade

Upgraded Project Chrono dependency to v9.0.1.
28/29 tests pass with the new version.
One demo test (demo_rm3_reg_waves_01) is still failing and will be tracked separately.
General build and test process improvements.

Thank you to @dariomangoni for their contribution and patience!

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by dav-og 11 months ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.5 - patch for ramp and eta dt

This patch brings the following updates:

If a ramp is used, apply it from time = 0.0 and zero out precomputed elevation for time < 0.0
Use provided simulation dt exactly for irregular wave elevation precomputation
Increase precision for output files of spectral densities and precomputed wave elevation

What's Changed

Full Changelog: https://github.com/NREL/HydroChrono/compare/v0.2.4...v0.2.5

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by tridelat 11 months ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.4 - patch for HDF5 dependency

This patch allows HydroChrono to HDF5 dependency in a more standardized way, tested with HDF5 1.10.8 (originally recommended version by HydroChrono) and newer version HDF5 1.14.4.

What's Changed

Full Changelog: https://github.com/NREL/HydroChrono/compare/v0.2.3...v0.2.4

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by tridelat over 1 year ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.3 - patch for matching irregular wave elevations

This patch ensures that precomputed wave elevations and wave elevation returned directly from calling GetElevation are matching.

What's Changed

Full Changelog: https://github.com/NREL/HydroChrono/compare/v0.2.2...v0.2.3

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by tridelat over 1 year ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.2 - patch for use as external library

This patch ensures that headers are installed correctly during a make install and allows for generating regular waves without .h5 file input.

What's Changed

Full Changelog: https://github.com/NREL/HydroChrono/compare/v0.2.1...v0.2.2

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by tridelat over 1 year ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.1 - expansion of wave generation features

This minor release adds some features for wave generation before the upcoming switch to Chrono 9.0.0.

What's Included:

Additional wave generation features include: creation of spectrum without .h5 file, wave stretching, fluid velocity and acceleration calculations, refactoring to unify API of regular and irregular waves, etc. See related PR notes https://github.com/NREL/HydroChrono/pull/58 for details.

Full Changelog: https://github.com/NREL/HydroChrono/compare/v0.2.0...v0.2.1

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by tridelat almost 2 years ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.0 - 1.6x speed up, new docs, improved irregular waves

This 2nd release covers some important improvments to HydroChrono's hydrodynamic capabilities, a 1.6x speed up and a new website.

What's Included:

Improvements to convolution integral demonstrate 1.6x speed-up: PR https://github.com/NREL/HydroChrono/pull/50
Overhauled documentation: https://nrel.github.io/HydroChrono/
Several improvements made to irregular waves in PR https://github.com/NREL/HydroChrono/pull/54 , including:
- Bugfix for excitation force convolution integral
- New test for irregular waves
- Added JONSWAP spectrum (in addition to Pierson-Moskowitz)
- Improved UI for specifying irregular wave parameters

What's Next:

The next major goal is to prepare distributable binaries for future releases (currently being developed in PR #51) and associated Python wrapper for improved user friendliness.

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by dav-og about 2 years ago

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.1.0 - Core Hydrodynamic Capabilities

This initial release covers HydroChrono's core hydrodynamic capabilities, which have now been developed and verified - providing a foundation for further enhancements.

What's Included:

Main Hydrodynamic Calculations: The core hydrodynamic force computations are ready and functioning reliably.

What's Next:

While this release represents a major step forward, there's still more work ahead. We plan to:

Continue refining and optimizing the existing calculations.
Address any minor issues and further enhance robustness.
Prepare distributable binaries for future releases (currently being developed in PR #51).

Renewable Energy - Hydro Energy - C++
Published by dav-og over 2 years ago

Recent Releases of HydroChrono

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.7.0 - MoorDyn mooring integration

Highlights

What's New

MoorDyn Mooring

Core / Build

Known Issues

Install (Windows x64)

HydroChrono -

Highlights

What's New

State-Space Radiation

Wave Class Improvements

Known Issues

Install (Windows x64)

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.5.0 – Real-Time VSG Ocean Visualization, ChLoadHydrodynamics Added Mass & Improvements to Automated Regression Reporting

🚢 HydroChrono 0.5.0

Highlights

What’s New

Fixed

Known Issues

Install (Windows x64)

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.4.0 – Major Refactor with Modular Hydrodynamics Core, New HydroSystem Façade & Chrono Coupling Layer

Highlights

What’s New

Install (Windows x64)

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.2.8 - Fixes for gcc compilation and wave kinematics

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.3.2 – CLI polish & YAML/HDF5 & GUI robustness improvements

Highlights

What’s new

Install (Windows x64)

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.3.1 – 5× faster radiation damping with Savitzky–Golay smoothing, SIMD & Linux fixes, and --profile support

Highlights

What’s new

Install (Windows x64)

HydroChrono - HydroChrono 0.3 - YAML CLI app with HDF5 outputs, logging and regression tests

Highlights

What’s new

Install (Windows x64)

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.7 – Testing framework & Windows build script

Highlights

Compatibility

Windows quick build

HydroChrono - v0.2.6 – Chrono 9.0.1 Upgrade

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.5 - patch for ramp and eta dt

What's Changed

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.4 - patch for HDF5 dependency

What's Changed

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.3 - patch for matching irregular wave elevations

What's Changed

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.2 - patch for use as external library

What's Changed

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.1 - expansion of wave generation features

What's Included:

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.2.0 - 1.6x speed up, new docs, improved irregular waves

What's Included:

What's Next:

HydroChrono - HydroChrono v0.1.0 - Core Hydrodynamic Capabilities

What's Included:

What's Next: