to provide a single consistent code and user interface to the specification of
physical properties in both single-phase and multi-phase solvers. This redesign
simplifies usage and reduces code duplication in run-time selectable solver
options such as 'functionObjects' and 'fvModels'.
* physicalProperties
Single abstract base-class for all fluid and solid physical property classes.
Physical properties for a single fluid or solid within a region are now read
from the 'constant/<region>/physicalProperties' dictionary.
Physical properties for a phase fluid or solid within a region are now read
from the 'constant/<region>/physicalProperties.<phase>' dictionary.
This replaces the previous inconsistent naming convention of
'transportProperties' for incompressible solvers and
'thermophysicalProperties' for compressible solvers.
Backward-compatibility is provided by the solvers reading
'thermophysicalProperties' or 'transportProperties' if the
'physicalProperties' dictionary does not exist.
* phaseProperties
All multi-phase solvers (VoF and Euler-Euler) now read the list of phases and
interfacial models and coefficients from the
'constant/<region>/phaseProperties' dictionary.
Backward-compatibility is provided by the solvers reading
'thermophysicalProperties' or 'transportProperties' if the 'phaseProperties'
dictionary does not exist. For incompressible VoF solvers the
'transportProperties' is automatically upgraded to 'phaseProperties' and the
two 'physicalProperties.<phase>' dictionary for the phase properties.
* viscosity
Abstract base-class (interface) for all fluids.
Having a single interface for the viscosity of all types of fluids facilitated
a substantial simplification of the 'momentumTransport' library, avoiding the
need for a layer of templating and providing total consistency between
incompressible/compressible and single-phase/multi-phase laminar, RAS and LES
momentum transport models. This allows the generalised Newtonian viscosity
models to be used in the same form within laminar as well as RAS and LES
momentum transport closures in any solver. Strain-rate dependent viscosity
modelling is particularly useful with low-Reynolds number turbulence closures
for non-Newtonian fluids where the effect of bulk shear near the walls on the
viscosity is a dominant effect. Within this framework it would also be
possible to implement generalised Newtonian models dependent on turbulent as
well as mean strain-rate if suitable model formulations are available.
* visosityModel
Run-time selectable Newtonian viscosity model for incompressible fluids
providing the 'viscosity' interface for 'momentumTransport' models.
Currently a 'constant' Newtonian viscosity model is provided but the structure
supports more complex functions of time, space and fields registered to the
region database.
Strain-rate dependent non-Newtonian viscosity models have been removed from
this level and handled in a more general way within the 'momentumTransport'
library, see section 'viscosity' above.
The 'constant' viscosity model is selected in the 'physicalProperties'
dictionary by
viscosityModel constant;
which is equivalent to the previous entry in the 'transportProperties'
dictionary
transportModel Newtonian;
but backward-compatibility is provided for both the keyword and model
type.
* thermophysicalModels
To avoid propagating the unnecessary constructors from 'dictionary' into the
new 'physicalProperties' abstract base-class this entire structure has been
removed from the 'thermophysicalModels' library. The only use for this
constructor was in 'thermalBaffle' which now reads the 'physicalProperties'
dictionary from the baffle region directory which is far simpler and more
consistent and significantly reduces the amount of constructor code in the
'thermophysicalModels' library.
* compressibleInterFoam
The creation of the 'viscosity' interface for the 'momentumTransport' models
allows the complex 'twoPhaseMixtureThermo' derived from 'rhoThermo' to be
replaced with the much simpler 'compressibleTwoPhaseMixture' derived from the
'viscosity' interface, avoiding the myriad of unused thermodynamic functions
required by 'rhoThermo' to be defined for the mixture.
Same for 'compressibleMultiphaseMixture' in 'compressibleMultiphaseInterFoam'.
This is a significant improvement in code and input consistency, simplifying
maintenance and further development as well as enhancing usability.
Henry G. Weller
CFD Direct Ltd.
The FOAM file format has not changed from version 2.0 in many years and so there
is no longer a need for the 'version' entry in the FoamFile header to be
required and to reduce unnecessary clutter it is now optional, defaulting to the
current file format 2.0.
A number of file name patterns have been removed from the list of things
that cleanCase deletes. Some patterns related to obsolete files that
OpenFOAM no longer generates, and some were deemed too generic to
delete as they might contain important persistent information.
The selection of the "Final" solver settings is now handled automatically within
the "<equation>.solve()" call and there is no longer any need no provide a bool
argument for specific cases. This simplifies the solution algorithm loop
structures and ensures consistency in behaviour across all solvers.
All tutorials have been updated to correspond to the now consistent rules.
The sampled sets have been renamed in a more explicit and consistent
manner, and two new ones have also been added. The available sets are as
follows:
arcUniform: Uniform samples along an arc. Replaces "circle", and
adds the ability to sample along only a part of the circle's
circumference. Example:
{
type arcUniform;
centre (0.95 0 0.25);
normal (1 0 0);
radial (0 0 0.25);
startAngle -1.57079633;
endAngle 0.52359878;
nPoints 200;
axis x;
}
boundaryPoints: Specified point samples associated with a subset of
the boundary. Replaces "patchCloud". Example:
{
type boundaryPoints;
patches (inlet1 inlet2);
points ((0 -0.05 0.05) (0 -0.05 0.1) (0 -0.05 0.15));
maxDistance 0.01;
axis x;
}
boundaryRandom: Random samples within a subset of the boundary.
Replaces "patchSeed", but changes the behaviour to be entirely
random. It does not seed the boundary face centres first. Example:
{
type boundaryRandom;
patches (inlet1 inlet2);
nPoints 1000;
axis x;
}
boxUniform: Uniform grid of samples within a axis-aligned box.
Replaces "array". Example:
{
type boxUniform;
box (0.95 0 0.25) (1.2 0.25 0.5);
nPoints (2 4 6);
axis x;
}
circleRandom: Random samples within a circle. New. Example:
{
type circleRandom;
centre (0.95 0 0.25);
normal (1 0 0);
radius 0.25;
nPoints 200;
axis x;
}
lineFace: Face-intersections along a line. Replaces "face". Example:
{
type lineFace;
start (0.6 0.6 0.5);
end (0.6 -0.3 -0.1);
axis x;
}
lineCell: Cell-samples along a line at the mid-points in-between
face-intersections. Replaces "midPoint". Example:
{
type lineCell;
start (0.5 0.6 0.5);
end (0.5 -0.3 -0.1);
axis x;
}
lineCellFace: Combination of "lineFace" and "lineCell". Replaces
"midPointAndFace". Example:
{
type lineCellFace;
start (0.55 0.6 0.5);
end (0.55 -0.3 -0.1);
axis x;
}
lineUniform: Uniform samples along a line. Replaces "uniform".
Example:
{
type lineUniform;
start (0.65 0.3 0.3);
end (0.65 -0.3 -0.1);
nPoints 200;
axis x;
}
points: Specified points. Replaces "cloud" when the ordered flag is
false, and "polyLine" when the ordered flag is true. Example:
{
type points;
points ((0 -0.05 0.05) (0 -0.05 0.1) (0 -0.05 0.15));
ordered yes;
axis x;
}
sphereRandom: Random samples within a sphere. New. Example:
{
type sphereRandom;
centre (0.95 0 0.25);
radius 0.25;
nPoints 200;
axis x;
}
triSurfaceMesh: Samples from all the points of a triSurfaceMesh.
Replaces "triSurfaceMeshPointSet". Example:
{
type triSurfaceMesh;
surface "surface.stl";
axis x;
}
The headers have also had documentation added. Example usage and a
description of the control parameters now exists for all sets.
In addition, a number of the algorithms which generate the sets have
been refactored or rewritten. This was done either to take advantage of
the recent changes to random number generation, or to remove ad-hoc
fixes that were made unnecessary by the barycentric tracking algorithm.
To re-use existing 'sampleDict' files simply add the following entries:
type sets;
libs ("libsampling.so");
and run
postProcess -func sampleDict
It is probably better to also rename 'sampleDict' -> 'sample' and then run
postProcess -func sampleDict
e.g.
functions
{
#includeFunc mag(U)
}
executes 'mag' on the field 'U' writing the field 'mag(U)'.
The equivalent post-processing command is
postProcess -func 'mag(U)'
with the more general and flexible 'postProcess' utility and '-postProcess' solver option
Rationale
---------
Both the 'postProcess' utility and '-postProcess' solver option use the
same extensive set of functionObjects available for data-processing
during the run avoiding the substantial code duplication necessary for
the 'foamCalc' and 'postCalc' utilities and simplifying maintenance.
Additionally consistency is guaranteed between solver data processing
and post-processing.
The functionObjects have been substantially re-written and generalized
to simplify development and encourage contribution.
Configuration
-------------
An extensive set of simple functionObject configuration files are
provided in
OpenFOAM-dev/etc/caseDicts/postProcessing
and more will be added in the future. These can either be copied into
'<case>/system' directory and included into the 'controlDict.functions'
sub-dictionary or included directly from 'etc/caseDicts/postProcessing'
using the '#includeEtc' directive or the new and more convenient
'#includeFunc' directive which searches the
'<etc>/caseDicts/postProcessing' directories for the selected
functionObject, e.g.
functions
{
#includeFunc Q
#includeFunc Lambda2
}
'#includeFunc' first searches the '<case>/system' directory in case
there is a local configuration.
Description of #includeFunc
---------------------------
Specify a functionObject dictionary file to include, expects the
functionObject name to follow (without quotes).
Search for functionObject dictionary file in
user/group/shipped directories.
The search scheme allows for version-specific and
version-independent files using the following hierarchy:
- \b user settings:
- ~/.OpenFOAM/\<VERSION\>/caseDicts/postProcessing
- ~/.OpenFOAM/caseDicts/postProcessing
- \b group (site) settings (when $WM_PROJECT_SITE is set):
- $WM_PROJECT_SITE/\<VERSION\>/caseDicts/postProcessing
- $WM_PROJECT_SITE/caseDicts/postProcessing
- \b group (site) settings (when $WM_PROJECT_SITE is not set):
- $WM_PROJECT_INST_DIR/site/\<VERSION\>/caseDicts/postProcessing
- $WM_PROJECT_INST_DIR/site/caseDicts/postProcessing
- \b other (shipped) settings:
- $WM_PROJECT_DIR/etc/caseDicts/postProcessing
An example of the \c \#includeFunc directive:
\verbatim
#includeFunc <funcName>
\endverbatim
postProcess
-----------
The 'postProcess' utility and '-postProcess' solver option provide the
same set of controls to execute functionObjects after the run either by
reading a specified set of fields to process in the case of
'postProcess' or by reading all fields and models required to start the
run in the case of '-postProcess' for each selected time:
postProcess -help
Usage: postProcess [OPTIONS]
options:
-case <dir> specify alternate case directory, default is the cwd
-constant include the 'constant/' dir in the times list
-dict <file> read control dictionary from specified location
-field <name> specify the name of the field to be processed, e.g. U
-fields <list> specify a list of fields to be processed, e.g. '(U T p)' -
regular expressions not currently supported
-func <name> specify the name of the functionObject to execute, e.g. Q
-funcs <list> specify the names of the functionObjects to execute, e.g.
'(Q div(U))'
-latestTime select the latest time
-newTimes select the new times
-noFunctionObjects
do not execute functionObjects
-noZero exclude the '0/' dir from the times list, has precedence
over the -withZero option
-parallel run in parallel
-region <name> specify alternative mesh region
-roots <(dir1 .. dirN)>
slave root directories for distributed running
-time <ranges> comma-separated time ranges - eg, ':10,20,40:70,1000:'
-srcDoc display source code in browser
-doc display application documentation in browser
-help print the usage
pimpleFoam -postProcess -help
Usage: pimpleFoam [OPTIONS]
options:
-case <dir> specify alternate case directory, default is the cwd
-constant include the 'constant/' dir in the times list
-dict <file> read control dictionary from specified location
-field <name> specify the name of the field to be processed, e.g. U
-fields <list> specify a list of fields to be processed, e.g. '(U T p)' -
regular expressions not currently supported
-func <name> specify the name of the functionObject to execute, e.g. Q
-funcs <list> specify the names of the functionObjects to execute, e.g.
'(Q div(U))'
-latestTime select the latest time
-newTimes select the new times
-noFunctionObjects
do not execute functionObjects
-noZero exclude the '0/' dir from the times list, has precedence
over the -withZero option
-parallel run in parallel
-postProcess Execute functionObjects only
-region <name> specify alternative mesh region
-roots <(dir1 .. dirN)>
slave root directories for distributed running
-time <ranges> comma-separated time ranges - eg, ':10,20,40:70,1000:'
-srcDoc display source code in browser
-doc display application documentation in browser
-help print the usage
The functionObjects to execute may be specified on the command-line
using the '-func' option for a single functionObject or '-funcs' for a
list, e.g.
postProcess -func Q
postProcess -funcs '(div(U) div(phi))'
In the case of 'Q' the default field to process is 'U' which is
specified in and read from the configuration file but this may be
overridden thus:
postProcess -func 'Q(Ua)'
as is done in the example above to calculate the two forms of the divergence of
the velocity field. Additional fields which the functionObjects may depend on
can be specified using the '-field' or '-fields' options.
The 'postProcess' utility can only be used to execute functionObjects which
process fields present in the time directories. However, functionObjects which
depend on fields obtained from models, e.g. properties derived from turbulence
models can be executed using the '-postProcess' of the appropriate solver, e.g.
pisoFoam -postProcess -func PecletNo
or
sonicFoam -postProcess -func MachNo
In this case all required fields will have already been read so the '-field' or
'-fields' options are not be needed.
Henry G. Weller
CFD Direct Ltd.
so that the specification of the name and dimensions are optional in property dictionaries.
Update tutorials so that the name of the dimensionedScalar property is
no longer duplicated but optional dimensions are still provided and are
checked on read.
For multi-region cases the default location of blockMeshDict is now system/<region name>
If the blockMeshDict is not found in system then the constant directory
is also checked providing backward-compatibility
