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Hey, Nasser here 👋

OpenFOAM gives you power, transparency and control

In exchange, it demands:

  • thinking

  • responsibility

  • clear intent

But using OpenFOAM for CFD simulation in practice can be overwhelming for most.

I struggled to “get it” for far too long until I changed my approach.

If you’ve gone ahead, downloaded and installed it on your machine, perhaps even ran a case, you’ve made a choice.

And a good one, in my opinion.

It tells me that you’re determined to use CFD solvers like a pro.

But most get flustered when they get past a simple 2D simulation with OpenFOAM.

At this point they either give-up or struggle one last time.

There’s another option and most don’t talk about it…

Developing a practical workflow you can rely on

The Fluent workflow done for you… source: ‘ANSYS Workbench System Coupling…’ [Satish et al, 2018]

Commercial tools do one thing extremely well – they give you a nice orderly GUI and workflow to follow.

This is either explicitly using a Wizard, for example or implicitly via the GUI, disabling buttons and settings until you’ve completed the prerequisite steps in the process.

Let’s then define what a workflow really is:

It’s a step-by-step process you setup and follow regardless of the specific case or complexity of the physics.

A good workflow will allow you to:

  • Create cases and simulation setups quickly

  • Understand the steps regardless of the solver or geometry you use

  • Get repeatability in the process with reduced guesswork

  • Get improved and consistent quality across studies

  • Easier peer reviews and comparison of results

In other words the CFD simulation process is scalable with a workflow.

This is what really differentiates the professional user if you ask me.

A workflow checklist for OpenFOAM

I’ve put the time in to stress-test the process of creating a usable, practical workflow for OpenFOAM.

Download my PDF checklist and remove the guesswork using OpenFOAM:


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