OpenFAST vs. OpenWindPower vs. V Programming Language vs. WindSim Comparison Chart

OpenWindPower is an offshore wind turbine analysis software developed by Bentley Systems, designed to support both fixed foundation and floating platform projects. The software enables users to explore design alternatives, predict performance, and deliver safe, cost-effective offshore wind farm structures. For fixed foundation projects, OpenWindPower provides comprehensive capabilities for the design and analysis of offshore wind turbine foundation structures, considering wave, wind, and turbine mechanical loading to predict both fatigue and extreme loads for the substructure and nonlinear soil foundation. In floating platform projects, the software offers advanced modeling capabilities to design 3D hydrodynamic and structural models subjected to wave, current, wind, and turbine mechanical loads, facilitating time-domain simulations that compute sea pressures and inertial loads for detailed structural analysis.

WindSim is a computational fluid dynamics-based wind farm design software that combines advanced numerical processing with compelling 3D visualization in a user-friendly interface. First launched in 2003, WindSim has evolved into a comprehensive suite covering the entire wind farm lifecycle, from initial site screening to power forecasting. The software is utilized worldwide by wind resource and energy assessors, meteorologists, and researchers at wind turbine manufacturers, project developers, government agencies, and academic institutions. WindSim's modular approach includes several key components: the Terrain module generates a 3D model of the area around a wind farm based on elevation and roughness data; the Wind Fields module simulates how terrain affects local wind conditions, accounting for speed variations, direction shifts, and turbulence; the Objects module facilitates the placement of turbines and measurement points within an interactive 3D interface.