The timeName() function simply returns the dimensionedScalar::name() which holds
the user-time name of the current time and now that timeName() is no longer
virtual the dimensionedScalar::name() can be called directly. The timeName()
function implementation is maintained for backward-compatibility.
fvMesh is no longer derived from fvSchemes and fvSolution, these are now
demand-driven and accessed by the member functions schemes() and solution()
respectively. This means that the system/fvSchemes and system/fvSolution files
are no longer required during fvMesh constructions simplifying the mesh
generation and manipulation phase; theses files are read on the first call of
their access functions.
The fvSchemes member function names have also been simplified taking advantage
of the context in which they are called, for example
mesh.ddtScheme(fieldName) -> mesh.schemes().ddt(fieldName)
replacing the virtual functions overridden in engineTime.
Now the userTime conversion function in Time is specified in system/controlDict
such that the solver as well as all pre- and post-processing tools also operate
correctly with the chosen user-time.
For example the user-time and rpm in the tutorials/combustion/XiEngineFoam/kivaTest case are
now specified in system/controlDict:
userTime
{
type engine;
rpm 1500;
}
The default specification is real-time:
userTime
{
type real;
}
but this entry can be omitted as the real-time class is instantiated
automatically if the userTime entry is not present in system/controlDict.
used to check the existence of and open an object file, read and check the
header without constructing the object.
'typeIOobject' operates in an equivalent and consistent manner to 'regIOobject'
but the type information is provided by the template argument rather than via
virtual functions for which the derived object would need to be constructed,
which is the case for 'regIOobject'.
'typeIOobject' replaces the previous separate functions 'typeHeaderOk' and
'typeFilePath' with a single consistent interface.
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.
Registration occurs when the temporary field is transferred to a non-temporary
field via a constructor or if explicitly transferred to the database via the
regIOobject "store" methods.
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.
Now for transient simulations "Final" solver settings are required for ALL
equations providing consistency between the solution of velocity, energy,
composition and radiation properties.
However "Final" relaxation factors are no longer required for fields or
equations and if not present the standard value for the variable will be
applied. Given that relaxation factors other than 1 are rarely required for
transient runs and hence the same for all iterations including the final one
this approach provide simpler input while still providing the flexibility to
specify a different value for the final iteration if required. For steady cases
it is usual to execute just 1 outer iteration per time-step for which the
standard relaxation factors are appropriate, and if more than one iteration is
executed it is common to use the same factors for both. In the unlikely event
of requiring different relaxation factors for the final iteration this is still
possible to specify via the now optional "Final" specification.
When an OpenFOAM simulation runs in parallel, the data for decomposed fields and
mesh(es) has historically been stored in multiple files within separate
directories for each processor. Processor directories are named 'processorN',
where N is the processor number.
This commit introduces an alternative "collated" file format where the data for
each decomposed field (and mesh) is collated into a single file, which is
written and read on the master processor. The files are stored in a single
directory named 'processors'.
The new format produces significantly fewer files - one per field, instead of N
per field. For large parallel cases, this avoids the restriction on the number
of open files imposed by the operating system limits.
The file writing can be threaded allowing the simulation to continue running
while the data is being written to file. NFS (Network File System) is not
needed when using the the collated format and additionally, there is an option
to run without NFS with the original uncollated approach, known as
"masterUncollated".
The controls for the file handling are in the OptimisationSwitches of
etc/controlDict:
OptimisationSwitches
{
...
//- Parallel IO file handler
// uncollated (default), collated or masterUncollated
fileHandler uncollated;
//- collated: thread buffer size for queued file writes.
// If set to 0 or not sufficient for the file size threading is not used.
// Default: 2e9
maxThreadFileBufferSize 2e9;
//- masterUncollated: non-blocking buffer size.
// If the file exceeds this buffer size scheduled transfer is used.
// Default: 2e9
maxMasterFileBufferSize 2e9;
}
When using the collated file handling, memory is allocated for the data in the
thread. maxThreadFileBufferSize sets the maximum size of memory in bytes that
is allocated. If the data exceeds this size, the write does not use threading.
When using the masterUncollated file handling, non-blocking MPI communication
requires a sufficiently large memory buffer on the master node.
maxMasterFileBufferSize sets the maximum size in bytes of the buffer. If the
data exceeds this size, the system uses scheduled communication.
The installation defaults for the fileHandler choice, maxThreadFileBufferSize
and maxMasterFileBufferSize (set in etc/controlDict) can be over-ridden within
the case controlDict file, like other parameters. Additionally the fileHandler
can be set by:
- the "-fileHandler" command line argument;
- a FOAM_FILEHANDLER environment variable.
A foamFormatConvert utility allows users to convert files between the collated
and uncollated formats, e.g.
mpirun -np 2 foamFormatConvert -parallel -fileHandler uncollated
An example case demonstrating the file handling methods is provided in:
$FOAM_TUTORIALS/IO/fileHandling
The work was undertaken by Mattijs Janssens, in collaboration with Henry Weller.
e.g. (fvc::interpolate(HbyA) & mesh.Sf()) -> fvc::flux(HbyA)
This removes the need to create an intermediate face-vector field when
computing fluxes which is more efficient, reduces the peak storage and
improved cache coherency in addition to providing a simpler and cleaner
API.
The boundary conditions of HbyA are now constrained by the new "constrainHbyA"
function which applies the velocity boundary values for patches for which the
velocity cannot be modified by assignment and pressure extrapolation is
not specified via the new
"fixedFluxExtrapolatedPressureFvPatchScalarField".
The new function "constrainPressure" sets the pressure gradient
appropriately for "fixedFluxPressureFvPatchScalarField" and
"fixedFluxExtrapolatedPressureFvPatchScalarField" boundary conditions to
ensure the evaluated flux corresponds to the known velocity values at
the boundary.
The "fixedFluxPressureFvPatchScalarField" boundary condition operates
exactly as before, ensuring the correct flux at fixed-flux boundaries by
compensating for the body forces (gravity in particular) with the
pressure gradient.
The new "fixedFluxExtrapolatedPressureFvPatchScalarField" boundary
condition may be used for cases with or without body-forces to set the
pressure gradient to compensate not only for the body-force but also the
extrapolated "HbyA" which provides a second-order boundary condition for
pressure. This is useful for a range a problems including impinging
flow, extrapolated inlet conditions with body-forces or for highly
viscous flows, pressure-induced separation etc. To test this boundary
condition at walls in the motorBike tutorial case set
lowerWall
{
type fixedFluxExtrapolatedPressure;
}
motorBikeGroup
{
type fixedFluxExtrapolatedPressure;
}
Currently the new extrapolated pressure boundary condition is supported
for all incompressible and sub-sonic compressible solvers except those
providing implicit and tensorial porosity support. The approach will be
extended to cover these solvers and options in the future.
Note: the extrapolated pressure boundary condition is experimental and
requires further testing to assess the range of applicability,
stability, accuracy etc.
Henry G. Weller
CFD Direct Ltd.
