Standard solvers

3.5 Standard solvers

The solvers with the OpenFOAM distribution are in the $FOAM_SOLVERS directory, reached quickly by typing app at the command line. This directory is further subdivided into several directories by category of continuum mechanics, e.g. incompressible flow, combustion and solid body stress analysis. Each solver is given a name that is reasonably descriptive, e.g.icoFoam solves incompressible, laminar flow. The current list of solvers distributed with OpenFOAM is given in Table 3.5.

‘Basic’ CFD codes


laplacianFoam

Solves a simple Laplace equation, e.g. for thermal diffusion in a solid

potentialFoam

Simple potential flow solver which can be used to generate starting fields for full Navier-Stokes codes

scalarTransportFoam

Solves a transport equation for a passive scalar

Incompressible flow


boundaryFoam

Steady-state solver for 1D turbulent flow, typically to generate boundary layer conditions at an inlet, for use in a simulation

channelFoam

Incompressible LES solver for flow in a channel

icoFoam

Transient solver for incompressible, laminar flow of Newtonian fluids

nonNewtonianIcoFoam

Transient solver for incompressible, laminar flow of non-Newtonian fluids

pimpleDyMFoam

Transient solver for incompressible, flow of Newtonian fluids on a moving mesh using the PIMPLE (merged PISO-SIMPLE) algorithm

pimpleFoam

Large time-step transient solver for incompressible, flow using the PIMPLE (merged PISO-SIMPLE) algorithm

pisoFoam

Transient solver for incompressible flow

shallowWaterFoam

Transient solver for inviscid shallow-water equations with rotation

simpleFoam

Steady-state solver for incompressible, turbulent flow

Compressible flow


rhoCentralFoam

Density-based compressible flow solver based on central-upwind schemes of Kurganov and Tadmor

rhoPimpleFoam

Transient solver for laminar or turbulent flow of compressible fluids for HVAC and similar applications

rhoPisoFoam

Transient PISO solver for compressible, laminar or turbulent flow

rhoPorousSimpleFoam

Steady-state solver for turbulent flow of compressible fluids with RANS turbulence modelling, and implicit or explicit porosity treatment

rhopSonicFoam

Pressure-density-based compressible flow solver

rhoSimpleFoam

Steady-state SIMPLE solver for laminar or turbulent RANS flow of compressible fluids

rhoSonicFoam

Density-based compressible flow solver

sonicDyMFoam

Transient solver for trans-sonic/supersonic, laminar or turbulent flow of a compressible gas with mesh motion

sonicFoam

Transient solver for trans-sonic/supersonic, laminar or turbulent flow of a compressible gas

sonicLiquidFoam

Transient solver for trans-sonic/supersonic, laminar flow of a compressible liquid

Multiphase flow


bubbleFoam

Solver for a system of 2 incompressible fluid phases with one phase dispersed, e.g. gas bubbles in a liquid

cavitatingFoam

Transient cavitation code based on the barotropic equation of state

compressibleInterDyMFoam

Solver for 2 compressible, isothermal immiscible fluids using a VOF (volume of fluid) phase-fraction based interface capturing approach, with optional mesh motion and mesh topology changes including adaptive re-meshing

compressibleInterFoam

Solver for 2 compressible, isothermal immiscible fluids using a VOF (volume of fluid) phase-fraction based interface capturing approach

interDyMFoam

Solver for 2 incompressible, isothermal immiscible fluids using a VOF (volume of fluid) phase-fraction based interface capturing approach, with optional mesh motion and mesh topology changes including adaptive re-meshing

interFoam

Solver for 2 incompressible, isothermal immiscible fluids using a VOF (volume of fluid) phase-fraction based interface capturing approach

interPhaseChangeFoam

Solver for 2 incompressible, isothermal immiscible fluids with phase-change (e.g. cavitation). Uses a VOF (volume of fluid) phase-fraction based interface capturing approach

multiphaseInterFoam

Solver for n  \relax \special {t4ht= incompressible fluids which captures the interfaces and includes surface-tension and contact-angle effects for each phase

settlingFoam

Solver for 2 incompressible fluids for simulating the settling of the dispersed phase

twoLiquidMixingFoam

Solver for mixing 2 incompressible fluids

twoPhaseEulerFoam

Solver for a system of 2 incompressible fluid phases with one phase dispersed, e.g. gas bubbles in a liquid

Direct numerical simulation (DNS)


dnsFoam

Direct numerical simulation solver for boxes of isotropic turbulence

Combustion


coldEngineFoam

Solver for cold-flow in internal combustion engines

dieselEngineFoam

Solver for diesel engine spray and combustion

dieselFoam

Solver for diesel spray and combustion

engineFoam

Solver for internal combustion engines

PDRFoam

Solver for compressible premixed/partially-premixed combustion with turbulence modelling

reactingFoam

Solver for combustion with chemical reactions

rhoReactingFoam

Solver for combustion with chemical reactions using density based thermodynamics package

XiFoam

Solver for compressible premixed/partially-premixed combustion with turbulence modelling

Heat transfer and buoyancy-driven flows


buoyantBoussinesqPisoFoam

Transient solver for buoyant, turbulent flow of incompressible fluids

buoyantBoussinesqSimpleFoam

Steady-state solver for buoyant, turbulent flow of incompressible fluids

buoyantPisoFoam

Transient solver for buoyant, turbulent flow of compressible fluids for ventilation and heat-transfer

buoyantSimpleFoam

Steady-state solver for buoyant, turbulent flow of compressible fluids

buoyantSimpleRadiationFoam

Steady-state solver for buoyant, turbulent flow of compressible fluids, including radiation, for ventilation and heat-transfer

chtMultiRegionFoam

Combination of heatConductionFoam and buoyantFoam for conjugate heat transfer between a solid region and fluid region

Particle-tracking flows


coalChemistryFoam

Transient solver for compressible, turbulent flow with coal and limestone parcel injections, and combustion

porousExplicitSourceReactingParcelFoam

Transient PISO solver for compressible, laminar or turbulent flow with reacting Lagrangian parcels for porous media, including explicit sources

reactingParcelFoam

Transient PISO solver for compressible, laminar or turbulent flow with reacting Lagrangian parcels

uncoupledKinematicParcelFoam

Transient solver for the passive transport of a single kinematic particle could

Molecular dynamics methods


mdEquilibrationFoam

Equilibrates and/or preconditions molecular dynamics systems

mdFoam

Molecular dynamics solver for fluid dynamics

Direct simulation Monte Carlo methods


dsmcFoam

Direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) solver for 3D, transient, multi- species flows

Electromagnetics


electrostaticFoam

Solver for electrostatics

mhdFoam

Solver for magnetohydrodynamics (MHD): incompressible, laminar flow of a conducting fluid under the influence of a magnetic field

Stress analysis of solids


solidDisplacementFoam

Transient segregated finite-volume solver of linear-elastic, small-strain deformation of a solid body, with optional thermal diffusion and thermal stresses

solidEquilibriumDisplacementFoam

Steady-state segregated finite-volume solver of linear-elastic, small-strain deformation of a solid body, with optional thermal diffusion and thermal stresses

Finance


financialFoam

Solves the Black-Scholes equation to price commodities

Table 3.5: Standard library solvers.