You can also build and run the graph for the aiesimulator using the Build and Run commands under the AIE SIMULATOR/HARDWARE heading in the Flow Navigator. This will compile the libadf.a for both the aiesimulator tool and for running on the physical device or hardware.
After the build completes examine the Output folder of the aie_component in the Vitis Components Explorer. Notice the addition of the hw folder with the results of the build. It contains the Work folder, the Makefiles, the aiecompiler.log, and the libadf.a output for the hardware build.
You can examine the Reports from the Build and the Run commands to see the results.