First public release of CableDyn, an open-source finite-element solver for the static and dynamic analysis of mooring lines and dynamic power cables for floating offshore wind.
Highlights
- Tension-only (
EI = 0) elements for chains, wire and fibre ropes, and cubic-Hermite finite-bending elements for dynamic power cables, including lazy-wave configurations. - Newton static equilibrium with load continuation from a simple seed, and implicit generalised-alpha dynamics.
- Reads MoorDyn v2 input decks; runs standalone, as an OpenFAST mooring module (
CompMooring = 5), through a C interface, or from Python. - Rigid bodies and rods, discrete buoyancy modules, line failure, vessel motion and RAO input, irregular and directional seas, seabed friction, modal analysis, range graphs and touchdown-point outputs.
The full list of features is in CHANGELOG.md, and the validation evidence is in VALIDATION.md.
Downloads
| Asset | Contents |
|---|---|
CableDyn_driver.exe |
Standalone solver for Windows x64 |
openfast.exe |
OpenFAST with CableDyn available as CompMooring = 5 |
cabledyn-0.1.0-py3-none-any.whl |
Python package |
cabledyn-0.1.0.tar.gz |
Python source distribution |
SHA256SUMS.txt |
Checksums for the assets above |
Both executables are statically linked and run on Windows 10 (version 1903 or later) and Windows 11 without an installer or runtime DLLs. The example decks are in the source archive. Build details, test results and asset hashes are recorded in validation/RELEASE_0_1_0.md.
Citation
J. H. Seo, J. Lim, K. Shim, J. Song. CableDyn: Curvature-resolving implicit finite-element analysis of mooring lines and dynamic power cables for floating offshore wind. Ocean Engineering 368 (Part 2), 128332, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2026.128332
Acknowledgements
CableDyn builds on the work of others. We are grateful to the developers and maintainers of MoorDyn (Hall et al.), whose open input format CableDyn reads; of OpenFAST, maintained by NLR (National Laboratory of the Rockies, formerly NREL), which hosts CableDyn as a mooring module; and of OrcaFlex (Orcina Ltd.), used as a reference for many of the comparisons.
Questions, bug reports and suggestions are welcome in GitHub Issues.