The new general multi-region framework using the isothermalFilm and film solver
modules and executed with foamMultiRun is a much more flexible approach to the
inclusion of liquid films in simulations with the support for coupling to other
regions of various types e.g. gas flows, Lagrangian clouds, VoF, CHT etc. This
has all been achieved with a significant reduction in the number of lines of
code and significant improvements in code structure, readability and
maintainability.
Lagrangian injections now have a 'uniformParcelSize' control, which
specifies what size of the parcels is kept uniform during a given time
step. This control can be set to 'nParticles', 'surfaceArea' or
'volume'. The particle sizes, by contrast, are specified by the size
distribution.
For example, if 'uniformParcelSize nParticles;' is specified then all
parcels introduced at a given time will have the same number of
particles. Every particle in a parcel has the same properties, including
diameter. So, in this configuration, the larger diameter parcels contain
a much larger fraction of the total particulate volume than the smaller
diameter ones. This may be undesirable as the effect of a parcel on the
simulation might be more in proportion with its volume than with the
number of particles it represents. It might be preferable to create a
greater proportion of large diameter parcels so that their more
significant effect is represented by a finer Lagrangian discretisation.
This can be achieved by setting 'uniformParcelSize volume;'. A setting
of 'uniformParcelSize surfaceArea;' might be appropriate if the limiting
effect of a Lagrangian element scales with its surface area; interfacial
evaporation, for example.
Previously, this control was provided by 'parcelBasisType'. However,
this control also effectively specified the size exponent of the
supplied distribution. This interdependence was not documented and was
problematic in that it coupled physical and numerical controls.
'parcelBasisType' has been removed, and the size exponent of the
distribution is now specified independently of the new
'uniformParcelSize' control along with the rest of the distribution
coefficients or data. See the previous commit for details.
It is still possible to specify a fixed number of particles per parcel
using the 'nParticle' control. The presence of this control is used to
determine whether or not the number of particles per parcel is fixed, so
a 'fixed' basis type is no longer needed.
A number of bugs have been fixed with regards to lack of
interoperability between the various settings in the injection models.
'uniformParcelSize' can be changed freely and the number of parcels and
amount of mass that an injector introduces will not change (this was not
true of 'parcelBasisType'). Redundant settings are no longer read by the
injection models; e.g., mass is not read if the number of particles per
parcel is fixed, duration is not specified for steady tracking, etc...
The 'inflationInjection' model has been removed as there are no examples
of its usage, its purpose was not clearly documented, and it was not
obvious how it should be updated as a result of these changes.
genericPatches is linked into mesh generation and manipulation utilities but not
solvers so that the solvers now check for the availability of the specified
patch types. Bugs in the tutorials exposed by this check have been corrected.
This major development provides coupling of patches which are
non-conformal, i.e. where the faces of one patch do not match the faces
of the other. The coupling is fully conservative and second order
accurate in space, unlike the Arbitrary Mesh Interface (AMI) and
associated ACMI and Repeat AMI methods which NCC replaces.
Description:
A non-conformal couple is a connection between a pair of boundary
patches formed by projecting one patch onto the other in a way that
fills the space between them. The intersection between the projected
surface and patch forms new faces that are incorporated into the finite
volume mesh. These new faces are created identically on both sides of
the couple, and therefore become equivalent to internal faces within the
mesh. The affected cells remain closed, meaning that the area vectors
sum to zero for all the faces of each cell. Consequently, the main
benefits of the finite volume method, i.e. conservation and accuracy,
are not undermined by the coupling.
A couple connects parts of mesh that are otherwise disconnected and can
be used in the following ways:
+ to simulate rotating geometries, e.g. a propeller or stirrer, in which
a part of the mesh rotates with the geometry and connects to a
surrounding mesh which is not moving;
+ to connect meshes that are generated separately, which do not conform
at their boundaries;
+ to connect patches which only partially overlap, in which the
non-overlapped section forms another boundary, e.g. a wall;
+ to simulate a case with a geometry which is periodically repeating by
creating multiple couples with different transformations between
patches.
The capability for simulating partial overlaps replaces the ACMI
functionality, currently provided by the 'cyclicACMI' patch type, and
which is unreliable unless the couple is perfectly flat. The capability
for simulating periodically repeating geometry replaces the Repeat AMI
functionality currently provided by the 'cyclicRepeatAMI' patch type.
Usage:
The process of meshing for NCC is very similar to existing processes for
meshing for AMI. Typically, a mesh is generated with an identifiable set
of internal faces which coincide with the surface through which the mesh
will be coupled. These faces are then duplicated by running the
'createBaffles' utility to create two boundary patches. The points are
then split using 'splitBaffles' in order to permit independent motion of
the patches.
In AMI, these patches are assigned the 'cyclicAMI' patch type, which
couples them using AMI interpolation methods.
With NCC, the patches remain non-coupled, e.g. a 'wall' type. Coupling
is instead achieved by running the new 'createNonConformalCouples'
utility, which creates additional coupled patches of type
'nonConformalCyclic'. These appear in the 'constant/polyMesh/boundary'
file with zero faces; they are populated with faces in the finite volume
mesh during the connection process in NCC.
For a single couple, such as that which separates the rotating and
stationary sections of a mesh, the utility can be called using the
non-coupled patch names as arguments, e.g.
createNonConformalCouples -overwrite rotatingZoneInner rotatingZoneOuter
where 'rotatingZoneInner' and 'rotatingZoneOuter' are the names of the
patches.
For multiple couples, and/or couples with transformations,
'createNonConformalCouples' should be run without arguments. Settings
will then be read from a configuration file named
'system/createNonConformalCouplesDict'. See
'$FOAM_ETC/caseDicts/annotated/createNonConformalCouplesDict' for
examples.
Boundary conditions must be specified for the non-coupled patches. For a
couple where the patches fully overlap, boundary conditions
corresponding to a slip wall are typically applied to fields, i.e
'movingWallSlipVelocity' (or 'slip' if the mesh is stationary) for
velocity U, 'zeroGradient' or 'fixedFluxPressure' for pressure p, and
'zeroGradient' for other fields. For a couple with
partially-overlapping patches, boundary conditions are applied which
physically represent the non-overlapped region, e.g. a no-slip wall.
Boundary conditions also need to be specified for the
'nonConformalCyclic' patches created by 'createNonConformalCouples'. It
is generally recommended that this is done by including the
'$FOAM_ETC/caseDicts/setConstraintTypes' file in the 'boundaryField'
section of each of the field files, e.g.
boundaryField
{
#includeEtc "caseDicts/setConstraintTypes"
inlet
{
...
}
...
}
For moving mesh cases, it may be necessary to correct the mesh fluxes
that are changed as a result of the connection procedure. If the
connected patches do not conform perfectly to the mesh motion, then
failure to correct the fluxes can result in noise in the pressure
solution.
Correction for the mesh fluxes is enabled by the 'correctMeshPhi' switch
in the 'PIMPLE' (or equivalent) section of 'system/fvSolution'. When it
is enabled, solver settings are required for 'MeshPhi'. The solution
just needs to distribute the error enough to dissipate the noise. A
smooth solver with a loose tolerance is typically sufficient, e.g. the
settings in 'system/fvSolution' shown below:
solvers
{
MeshPhi
{
solver smoothSolver;
smoother symGaussSeidel;
tolerance 1e-2;
relTol 0;
}
...
}
PIMPLE
{
correctMeshPhi yes;
...
}
The solution of 'MeshPhi' is an inexpensive computation since it is
applied only to a small subset of the mesh adjacent to the
couple. Conservation is maintained whether or not the mesh flux
correction is enabled, and regardless of the solution tolerance for
'MeshPhi'.
Advantages of NCC:
+ NCC maintains conservation which is required for many numerical
schemes and algorithms to operate effectively, in particular those
designed to maintain boundedness of a solution.
+ Closed-volume systems no longer suffer from accumulation or loss of
mass, poor convergence of the pressure equation, and/or concentration
of error in the reference cell.
+ Partially overlapped simulations are now possible on surfaces that are
not perfectly flat. The projection fills space so no overlaps or
spaces are generated inside contiguously overlapping sections, even if
those sections have sharp angles.
+ The finite volume faces created by NCC have geometrically accurate
centres. This makes the method second order accurate in space.
+ The polyhedral mesh no longer requires duplicate boundary faces to be
generated in order to run a partially overlapped simulation.
+ Lagrangian elements can now transfer across non-conformal couplings in
parallel.
+ Once the intersection has been computed and applied to the finite
volume mesh, it can use standard cyclic or processor cyclic finite
volume boundary conditions, with no need for additional patch types or
matrix interfaces.
+ Parallel communication is done using the standard
processor-patch-field system. This is more efficient than alternative
systems since it has been carefully optimised for use within the
linear solvers.
+ Coupled patches are disconnected prior to mesh motion and topology
change and reconnected afterwards. This simplifies the boundary
condition specification for mesh motion fields.
Resolved Bug Reports:
+ https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=663
+ https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=883
+ https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=887
+ https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=1337
+ https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=1388
+ https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=1422
+ https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=1829
+ https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=1841
+ https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=2274
+ https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=2561
+ https://bugs.openfoam.org/view.php?id=3817
Deprecation:
NCC replaces the functionality provided by AMI, ACMI and Repeat AMI.
ACMI and Repeat AMI are insufficiently reliable to warrant further
maintenance so are removed in an accompanying commit to OpenFOAM-dev.
AMI is more widely used so will be retained alongside NCC for the next
version release of OpenFOAM and then subsequently removed from
OpenFOAM-dev.
With fvMeshTopoChangers::meshToMesh it is now possible to map the solution to a
specified sequence of pre-generated meshes at run-time to support arbitrary mesh
changes, refinements, un-refinements, changes in region topology, geometry,
etc. Additionally mesh-motion between the sequence of meshes is supported to
allow for e.g. piston and valve motion in engines.
The tutorials/incompressible/pimpleFoam/laminar/movingCone case has been updated
to provide a demonstration of the advantages of this run-time mesh-mapping by
mapping to meshes that are finer behind the cone and coarser in front of the
cone as the cone approaches the end of the domain, thus maintaining good
resolution while avoiding excessive cell aspect ratio as the mesh is squeezed.
The dynamicMeshDict for the movingCone case is;
mover
{
type motionSolver;
libs ("libfvMeshMovers.so" "libfvMotionSolvers.so");
motionSolver velocityComponentLaplacian;
component x;
diffusivity directional (1 200 0);
}
topoChanger
{
type meshToMesh;
libs ("libmeshToMeshTopoChanger.so");
times (0.0015 0.003);
timeDelta 1e-6;
}
which lists the mesh mapping times 0.0015s 0.003s and meshes for these times in
directories constant/meshToMesh_0.0015 and constant/meshToMesh_0.003 are
generated in the Allrun script before the pimpleFoam run:
runApplication -a blockMesh -dict blockMeshDict.2
rm -rf constant/meshToMesh_0.0015
mkdir constant/meshToMesh_0.0015
mv constant/polyMesh constant/meshToMesh_0.0015
runApplication -a blockMesh -dict blockMeshDict.3
rm -rf constant/meshToMesh_0.003
mkdir constant/meshToMesh_0.003
mv constant/polyMesh constant/meshToMesh_0.003
runApplication -a blockMesh -dict blockMeshDict.1
runApplication $application
Note: This functionality is experimental and has only undergone basic testing.
It is likely that it does not yet work with all functionObject, fvModels
etc. which will need updating to support this form of mesh topology change.
Alpha contact angle boundaries are now specified in the following way
for multiphase solvers (i.e., multiphaseInterFoam,
compressibleMultiphaseInterFoam, and multiphaseEulerFoam):
boundaryField
{
wall
{
type alphaContactAngle;
contactAngleProperties
{
water
{
// Constant contact angle
theta0 90;
}
oil
{
// Dynamic contact angle
theta0 90;
uTheta 1;
thetaA 125;
thetaR 85;
}
}
value uniform 0;
}
}
All solvers now share the same implementation of the alphaContactAngle
boundary condition and the contact angle correction algorithm.
If alpha contact angle boundary conditions are used they must be
specified for all phases or an error will result. The consistency of the
input will also be checked. The angles given for water in the alpha.air
file must be 180 degrees minus the angles given for air in the
alpha.water file.
Basic support is now provided for dynamic mesh redistribution, particularly for
load-balancing. The mesh distributor is selected in the optional 'distributor'
entry in dynamicMeshDict, for example in the
multiphase/interFoam/RAS/floatingObject tutorial case when run in parallel using
the new Allrun-parallel script
distributor
{
type decomposer;
libs ("libfvMeshDistributors.so");
redistributionInterval 10;
}
in which the 'decomposer' form of redistribution is selected to call the mesh
decomposition method specified in decomposeParDict to re-decompose the mesh for
redistribution. The redistributionInterval entry specifies how frequently mesh
redistribution takes place, in the above every 10th time-step. An optional
maxImbalance entry is also provided to control redistribution based on the cell
distribution imbalance:
Class
Foam::fvMeshDistributor::decomposer
Description
Dynamic mesh redistribution using the decomposer
Usage
Example of single field based refinement in all cells:
\verbatim
distributor
{
type decomposer;
libs ("libfvMeshDistributors.so");
// How often to redistribute
redistributionInterval 10;
// Maximum fractional cell distribution imbalance
// before rebalancing
maxImbalance 0.1;
}
\endverbatim
Currently mesh refinement/unrefinement and motion with redistribution is
supported but many aspects of OpenFOAM are not yet and will require further
development, in particular fvModels and Lagrangian.
Also only the geometry-based simple and hierarchical decomposition method are
well behaved for redistribution, scotch and ptScotch cause dramatic changes in
mesh distribution with a corresponding heavy communications overhead limiting
their usefulness or at least the frequency with which they should be called to
redistribute the mesh.
With the general run-time selectable fvMeshMovers engine compression simulations
can be performed with reactingFoam so there is no longer any need for engine
specific solvers or engineMesh.
An engineFoam script is provided to redirect users to reactingFoam with
instructions.
Mesh motion and topology change are now combinable run-time selectable options
within fvMesh, replacing the restrictive dynamicFvMesh which supported only
motion OR topology change.
All solvers which instantiated a dynamicFvMesh now instantiate an fvMesh which
reads the optional constant/dynamicFvMeshDict to construct an fvMeshMover and/or
an fvMeshTopoChanger. These two are specified within the optional mover and
topoChanger sub-dictionaries of dynamicFvMeshDict.
When the fvMesh is updated the fvMeshTopoChanger is first executed which can
change the mesh topology in anyway, adding or removing points as required, for
example for automatic mesh refinement/unrefinement, and all registered fields
are mapped onto the updated mesh. The fvMeshMover is then executed which moved
the points only and calculates the cell volume change and corresponding
mesh-fluxes for conservative moving mesh transport. If multiple topological
changes or movements are required these would be combined into special
fvMeshMovers and fvMeshTopoChangers which handle the processing of a list of
changes, e.g. solidBodyMotionFunctions:multiMotion.
The tutorials/multiphase/interFoam/laminar/sloshingTank3D3DoF case has been
updated to demonstrate this new functionality by combining solid-body motion
with mesh refinement/unrefinement:
/*--------------------------------*- C++ -*----------------------------------*\
========= |
\\ / F ield | OpenFOAM: The Open Source CFD Toolbox
\\ / O peration | Website: https://openfoam.org
\\ / A nd | Version: dev
\\/ M anipulation |
\*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
FoamFile
{
format ascii;
class dictionary;
location "constant";
object dynamicMeshDict;
}
// * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * //
mover
{
type motionSolver;
libs ("libfvMeshMovers.so" "libfvMotionSolvers.so");
motionSolver solidBody;
solidBodyMotionFunction SDA;
CofG (0 0 0);
lamda 50;
rollAmax 0.2;
rollAmin 0.1;
heaveA 4;
swayA 2.4;
Q 2;
Tp 14;
Tpn 12;
dTi 0.06;
dTp -0.001;
}
topoChanger
{
type refiner;
libs ("libfvMeshTopoChangers.so");
// How often to refine
refineInterval 1;
// Field to be refinement on
field alpha.water;
// Refine field in between lower..upper
lowerRefineLevel 0.001;
upperRefineLevel 0.999;
// Have slower than 2:1 refinement
nBufferLayers 1;
// Refine cells only up to maxRefinement levels
maxRefinement 1;
// Stop refinement if maxCells reached
maxCells 200000;
// Flux field and corresponding velocity field. Fluxes on changed
// faces get recalculated by interpolating the velocity. Use 'none'
// on surfaceScalarFields that do not need to be reinterpolated.
correctFluxes
(
(phi none)
(nHatf none)
(rhoPhi none)
(alphaPhi.water none)
(meshPhi none)
(meshPhi_0 none)
(ghf none)
);
// Write the refinement level as a volScalarField
dumpLevel true;
}
// ************************************************************************* //
Note that currently this is the only working combination of mesh-motion with
topology change within the new framework and further development is required to
update the set of topology changers so that topology changes with mapping are
separated from the mesh-motion so that they can be combined with any of the
other movements or topology changes in any manner.
All of the solvers and tutorials have been updated to use the new form of
dynamicMeshDict but backward-compatibility was not practical due to the complete
reorganisation of the mesh change structure.
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.
With the new fvModels framework it is now possible to implement complex models
and wrappers around existing complex models which can then be optionally
selected in any general solver which provides compatible fields and
thermophysical properties. This simplifies code development and maintenance by
significantly reducing complex code duplication and also provide the opportunity
of running these models in other solvers without the need for code duplication
and alteration.
The immediate advantage of this development is the replacement of the
specialised Lagrangian solvers with their general counterparts:
reactingParticleFoam -> reactingFoam
reactingParcelFoam -> reactingFoam
sprayFoam -> reactingFoam
simpleReactingParticleFoam -> reactingFoam
buoyantReactingParticleFoam -> buoyantReactingFoam
For example to run a reactingParticleFoam case in reactingFoam add the following
entries in constant/fvModels:
buoyancyForce
{
type buoyancyForce;
}
clouds
{
type clouds;
libs ("liblagrangianParcel.so");
}
which add the acceleration due to gravity needed by Lagrangian clouds and the
clouds themselves.
See the following cases for examples converted from reactingParticleFoam:
$FOAM_TUTORIALS/combustion/reactingFoam/Lagrangian
and to run a buoyantReactingParticleFoam case in buoyantReactingFoam add the
following entry constant/fvModels:
clouds
{
type clouds;
libs ("liblagrangianParcel.so");
}
to add support for Lagrangian clouds and/or
surfaceFilm
{
type surfaceFilm;
libs ("libsurfaceFilmModels.so");
}
to add support for surface film. The buoyancyForce fvModel is not required in
this case as the buoyantReactingFoam solver has built-in support for buoyancy
utilising the p_rgh formulation to provide better numerical handling for this
force for strongly buoyancy-driven flows.
See the following cases for examples converted from buoyantReactingParticleFoam:
$FOAM_TUTORIALS/combustion/buoyantReactingFoam/Lagrangian
All the tutorial cases for the redundant solvers have been updated and converted
into their new equivalents and redirection scripts replace these solvers to
provide users with prompts on which solvers have been replaced by which and
information on how to upgrade their cases.
To support this change and allow all previous Lagrangian tutorials to run as
before the special Lagrangian solver fvSolution/PIMPLE control
solvePrimaryRegion has been replaced by the more general and useful controls:
models : Enable the fvModels
thermophysics : Enable thermophysics (energy and optional composition)
flow : Enable flow (pressure/velocity system)
which also replace the fvSolution/PIMPLE control frozenFlow present in some
solvers. These three controls can be used in various combinations to allow for
example only the fvModels to be evaluated, e.g. in
$FOAM_TUTORIALS/combustion/buoyantReactingFoam/Lagrangian/rivuletPanel
PIMPLE
{
models yes;
thermophysics no;
flow no;
.
.
.
so that only the film is solved. Or during the start-up of a case it might be
beneficial to run the pressure-velocity system for a while without updating
temperature which can be achieved by switching-off thermophysics. Also the
behaviour of the previous frozenFlow switch can be reproduced by switching flow
off with the other two switches on, allowing for example reactions, temperature
and composition update without flow.
The MomentumTransportModels library now builds of a standard set of
phase-incompressible and phase-compressible models. This replaces most
solver-specific builds of these models.
This has been made possible by the addition of a new
"dynamicTransportModel" interface, from which all transport classes used
by the momentum transport models now derive. For the purpose of
disambiguation, the old "transportModel" has also been renamed
"kinematicTransportModel".
This change has been made in order to create a consistent definition of
phase-incompressible and phase-compressible MomentumTransportModels,
which can then be looked up by functionObjects, fvModels, and similar.
Some solvers still build specific momentum transport models, but these
are now in addition to the standard set. The solver does not build all
the models it uses.
There are also corresponding centralised builds of phase dependent
ThermophysicalTransportModels.
The new fvModels is a general interface to optional physical models in the
finite volume framework, providing sources to the governing conservation
equations, thus ensuring consistency and conservation. This structure is used
not only for simple sources and forces but also provides a general run-time
selection interface for more complex models such as radiation and film, in the
future this will be extended to Lagrangian, reaction, combustion etc. For such
complex models the 'correct()' function is provided to update the state of these
models at the beginning of the PIMPLE loop.
fvModels are specified in the optional constant/fvModels dictionary and
backward-compatibility with fvOption is provided by reading the
constant/fvOptions or system/fvOptions dictionary if present.
The new fvConstraints is a general interface to optional numerical constraints
applied to the matrices of the governing equations after construction and/or to
the resulting field after solution. This system allows arbitrary changes to
either the matrix or solution to ensure numerical or other constraints and hence
violates consistency with the governing equations and conservation but it often
useful to ensure numerical stability, particularly during the initial start-up
period of a run. Complex manipulations can be achieved with fvConstraints, for
example 'meanVelocityForce' used to maintain a specified mean velocity in a
cyclic channel by manipulating the momentum matrix and the velocity solution.
fvConstraints are specified in the optional system/fvConstraints dictionary and
backward-compatibility with fvOption is provided by reading the
constant/fvOptions or system/fvOptions dictionary if present.
The separation of fvOptions into fvModels and fvConstraints provides a rational
and consistent separation between physical and numerical models which is easier
to understand and reason about, avoids the confusing issue of location of the
controlling dictionary file, improves maintainability and easier to extend to
handle current and future requirements for optional complex physical models and
numerical constraints.
providing the shear-stress term in the momentum equation for incompressible and
compressible Newtonian, non-Newtonian and visco-elastic laminar flow as well as
Reynolds averaged and large-eddy simulation of turbulent flow.
The general deviatoric shear-stress term provided by the MomentumTransportModels
library is named divDevTau for compressible flow and divDevSigma (sigma =
tau/rho) for incompressible flow, the spherical part of the shear-stress is
assumed to be either included in the pressure or handled separately. The
corresponding stress function sigma is also provided which in the case of
Reynolds stress closure returns the effective Reynolds stress (including the
laminar contribution) or for other Reynolds averaged or large-eddy turbulence
closures returns the modelled Reynolds stress or sub-grid stress respectively.
For visco-elastic flow the sigma function returns the effective total stress
including the visco-elastic and Newtonian contributions.
For thermal flow the heat-flux generated by thermal diffusion is now handled by
the separate ThermophysicalTransportModels library allowing independent run-time
selection of the heat-flux model.
During the development of the MomentumTransportModels library significant effort
has been put into rationalising the components and supporting libraries,
removing redundant code, updating names to provide a more logical, consistent
and extensible interface and aid further development and maintenance. All
solvers and tutorials have been updated correspondingly and backward
compatibility of the input dictionaries provided.
Henry G. Weller
CFD Direct Ltd.
The simplistic energy transport support in compressibleTurbulenceModels has been
abstracted and separated into the new ThermophysicalTransportModels library in
order to provide a more general interface to support complex energy and specie
transport models, in particular multi-component diffusion. Currently only the
Fourier for laminar and eddyDiffusivity for RAS and LES turbulent flows are
provided but the interface is general and the set of models will be expanded in
the near future.
The ThermalDiffusivity and EddyDiffusivity modelling layers remain in
compressibleTurbulenceModels but will be removed shortly and the alphat boundary
conditions will be moved to ThermophysicalTransportModels.
The calculation and input/output of transformations has been rewritten
for all coupled patches. This replaces multiple duplicated, inconsistent
and incomplete implementations of transformation handling which were
spread across the different coupled patch types.
Transformations are now calculated or specified once, typically during
mesh construction or manipulation, and are written out with the boundary
data. They are never re-calculated. Mesh changes should not change the
transformation across a coupled interface; to do so would violate the
transformation.
Transformations are now calculated using integral properties of the
patches. This is more numerically stable that the previous methods which
functioned in terms of individual faces. The new routines are also able
to automatically calculate non-zero centres of rotation.
The user input of transformations is backwards compatible, and permits
the user to manually specify varying amounts of the transformation
geometry. Anything left unspecified gets automatically computed from the
patch geometry. Supported specifications are:
1) No specification. Transformations on cyclics are automatically
generated, and cyclicAMI-type patches assume no transformation. For
example (in system/blockMeshDict):
cyclicLeft
{
type cyclic;
neighbourPatch cyclicRight;
faces ((0 1 2 3));
}
cyclicRight
{
type cyclic;
neighbourPatch cyclicLeft;
faces ((4 5 6 7));
}
2) Partial specification. The type of transformation is specified
by the user, as well as the coordinate system if the transform is
rotational. The rotation angle or separation vector is still
automatically generated. This form is useful as the signs of the
angle and separation are opposite on different sides of an interface
and can be difficult to specify correctly. For example:
cyclicLeft
{
type cyclic;
neighbourPatch cyclicRight;
transformType translational;
faces ((0 1 2 3));
}
cyclicRight
{
type cyclic;
neighbourPatch cyclicLeft;
transformType translational;
faces ((4 5 6 7));
}
cyclicAMILeft
{
type cyclicAMI;
neighbourPatch cyclicAMIRight;
transformType rotational;
rotationAxis (0 0 1);
rotationCentre (0.05 -0.01 0);
faces ((8 9 10 11));
}
cyclicAMIRight
{
type cyclicAMI;
neighbourPatch cyclicAMILeft;
transformType rotational;
rotationAxis (0 0 1);
rotationCentre (0.05 -0.01 0);
faces ((12 13 14 15));
}
3) Full specification. All parameters of the transformation are
given. For example:
cyclicLeft
{
type cyclic;
neighbourPatch cyclicRight;
transformType translational;
separaion (-0.01 0 0);
faces ((0 1 2 3));
}
cyclicRight
{
type cyclic;
neighbourPatch cyclicLeft;
transformType translational;
separaion (0.01 0 0);
faces ((4 5 6 7));
}
cyclicAMILeft
{
type cyclicAMI;
neighbourPatch cyclicAMIRight;
transformType rotational;
rotationAxis (0 0 1);
rotationCentre (0.05 -0.01 0);
rotationAngle 60;
faces ((8 9 10 11));
}
cyclicAMIRight
{
type cyclicAMI;
neighbourPatch cyclicAMILeft;
transformType rotational;
rotationAxis (0 0 1);
rotationCentre (0.05 -0.01 0);
rotationAngle 60;
faces ((12 13 14 15));
}
Automatic ordering of faces and points across coupled patches has also
been rewritten, again replacing multiple unsatisfactory implementations.
The new ordering method is more robust on poor meshes as it
geometrically matches only a single face (per contiguous region of the
patch) in order to perform the ordering, and this face is chosen to be
the one with the highest quality. A failure in ordering now only occurs
if the best face in the patch cannot be geometrically matched, whether
as previously the worst face could cause the algorithm to fail.
The oldCyclicPolyPatch has been removed, and the mesh converters which
previously used it now all generate ordered cyclic and baffle patches
directly. This removes the need to run foamUpgradeCyclics after
conversion. In addition the fluent3DMeshToFoam converter now supports
conversion of periodic/shadow pairs to OpenFOAM cyclic patches.
An adsorption condition has been added for species mass fraction. This
models a surface on which one or more species deposit at a rate
proportional to the quantity of that specie present. The property that
the rate is assumed proportional to can be chosen to be mass fraction,
mole fraction, molar concentration, or partial pressure.
Example specification in 0/CH4, 0/O2, etc...:
<patchName>
{
type adsorptionMassFraction;
property molarConcentration;
c 1e-3; // <-- Transfer coefficient
value $internalField;
}
"c" is the constant of proportionality between the property value and
the mass transfer rate. If a specie does not adsorb, this should be set
to zero, or be omitted entirely.
This condition must be supplied for all species, and corresponding
specie transfer boundary conditions must also be applied to velocity and
temperature.
Example specification in 0/U and 0/T:
<patchName>
{
type specieTransferVelocity;
value $internalField;
}
<patchName>
{
type specieTransferTemperature;
value $internalField;
}
In addition, the semi-permeable baffle conditions have been refactored
to share functionality with the new adsorption conditions. They can now
also be used with the species-transfer temperature condition, which
corrects an energy error that was present previously. The parameter
"input" has been renamed "property", consistently with the adsorption
entries listed above. Molar concentration has also been added as an
option for the property driving the transfer, so the available controls
are the same as for adsorption.
Example specification in 0/CH4, 0/O2, etc...:
<patchName>
{
type semiPermeableBaffleMassFraction;
samplePatch <neighbourPatchName>;
property molarConcentration;
c 1e-3; // <-- Transfer coefficient
value $internalField;
}
<neighbourPatchName>
{
type semiPermeableBaffleMassFraction;
samplePatch <patchName>;
property molarConcentration;
c 1e-3; // <-- Transfer coefficient
value $internalField;
}
Velocity and temperature conditions should be set in the same way as for
adsorption.
In order for the temperature condition to function satisfactorily and
not introduce unphysical variations in temperature as a result of the
linearisation to an energy boundary condition, two new base classes for
temperature conditions which explicitly set the parameters of either
gradient or mixed energy conditions have been added. The mixed condition
forms the base of the specieTransferTemperature condition.
As a result of its generalisation, the library has been renamed from
"libsemiPermeableBaffle.so" to "libspecieTransfer.so".
kappa is now obtained from the fluidThermo for laminar regions, the turbulence
model for turbulent regions and the solidThermo for solid regions. The "lookup"
option previously supported allowed for energy-temperature inconsistent and
incorrect specification of kappa and was not used. Without this incorrect
option there is now no need to specify a kappaMethod thus significantly
simplifying the use boundary conditions derived from temperatureCoupledBase.
The radiation modelling library has been moved out of
thermophysicalProperties into the top-level source directory. Radiation
is a process, not a property, and belongs alongside turbulence,
combustion, etc...
The namespaces used within the radiation library have been made
consistent with the rest of the code. Selectable sub-models are in
namespaces named after their base classes. Some models have been
renamed remove the base type from the suffix, as this is unnecessary.
These renames are:
Old name: New name:
binaryAbsorptionEmission binary
cloudAbsorptionEmission cloud
constantAbsorptionEmission constant
greyMeanAbsorptionEmission greyMean/greyMeanCombustion
greyMeanSolidAbsorptionEmission greyMeanSolid
wideBandAbsorptionEmission wideBand/wideBandCombustion
cloudScatter cloud
constantScatter constant
mixtureFractionSoot mixtureFraction
Some absorption-emission models have been split into versions which do
and don't use the heat release rate. The version that does has been
given the post-fix "Combustion" and has been moved into the
combustionModels library. This removes the dependence on a registered
Qdot field, and makes the models compatible with the recent removal of
that field from the combustion solvers.
Now lnInclude are created as required by the presence of entries in the EXE_INC
variable in the Make/options file. This removes the need for calling
wmakeLnInclude in various Allwmake files to ensure the existence of the
lnInclude directories prior to compilation of dependent libraries.
Specialized variants of the power law porosity and k epsilon turbulence models
developed to simulate atmospheric flow over forested and non-forested complex
terrain.
Class
Foam::powerLawLopesdaCosta
Description
Variant of the power law porosity model with spatially varying
drag coefficient
given by:
\f[
S = -\rho C_d \Sigma |U|^{(C_1 - 1)} U
\f]
where
\vartable
\Sigma | Porosity surface area per unit volume
C_d | Model linear coefficient
C_1 | Model exponent coefficient
\endvartable
Reference:
\verbatim
Costa, J. C. P. L. D. (2007).
Atmospheric flow over forested and non-forested complex terrain.
\endverbatim
Class
Foam::RASModels::kEpsilonLopesdaCosta
Description
Variant of the standard k-epsilon turbulence model with additional source
terms to handle the changes in turbulence in porous regions represented by
the powerLawLopesdaCosta porosity model.
Reference:
\verbatim
Costa, J. C. P. L. D. (2007).
Atmospheric flow over forested and non-forested complex terrain.
\endverbatim
The default model coefficients are
\verbatim
kEpsilonLopesdaCostaCoeffs
{
Cmu 0.09;
C1 1.44;
C2 1.92;
sigmak 1.0;
sigmaEps 1.3;
}
\endverbatim
Tutorial case to follow.
This addition allows for theoretical wave models to be utilised for
initialisation and as boundary conditions. Multiple models can be used
simultaneously, each with differing phases and orientations. If multiple
models are used the shapes and velocities are superimposed.
The wave models are specified in the velocity boundary condition. The
phase fraction boundary condition and the set utility both look up the
velocity condition in order to access the wave model. A velocity
boundary may be specified as follows:
inlet
{
type waveVelocity;
origin (0 0 0);
direction (1 0 0);
speed 2;
waves
(
Airy
{
length 300;
amplitude 2.5;
depth 150;
phase 0;
angle 0;
}
);
scale table ((1200 1) (1800 0));
crossScale constant 1;
}
The alpha boundary only requires the type, unless the name of the
velocity field is non-standard, in which case a "U" entry will also be
needed. The setWaves utility does not require a dictionary file; non-
standard field names can be specified as command-line arguments.
Wave models currently available are Airy (1st order) and Stokes2 (second
order). If a depth is specified, and it is not too large, then shallow
terms will be included, otherwise the models assume that the liquid is
deep.
This work was supported by Jan Kaufmann and Jan Oberhagemann at DNV GL.
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.
splitMeshRegions: handle flipping of faces for surface fields
subsetMesh: subset dimensionedFields
decomposePar: use run-time selection of decomposition constraints. Used to
keep cells on particular processors. See the decomposeParDict in
$FOAM_UTILITIES/parallel/decomposePar:
- preserveBaffles: keep baffle faces on same processor
- preserveFaceZones: keep faceZones owner and neighbour on same processor
- preservePatches: keep owner and neighbour on same processor. Note: not
suitable for cyclicAMI since these are not coupled on the patch level
- singleProcessorFaceSets: keep complete faceSet on a single processor
- refinementHistory: keep cells originating from a single cell on the
same processor.
decomposePar: clean up decomposition of refinement data from snappyHexMesh
reconstructPar: reconstruct refinement data (refineHexMesh, snappyHexMesh)
reconstructParMesh: reconstruct refinement data (refineHexMesh, snappyHexMesh)
redistributePar:
- corrected mapping surfaceFields
- adding processor patches in order consistent with decomposePar
argList: check that slaves are running same version as master
fvMeshSubset: move to dynamicMesh library
fvMeshDistribute:
- support for mapping dimensionedFields
- corrected mapping of surfaceFields
parallel routines: allow parallel running on single processor
Field: support for
- distributed mapping
- mapping with flipping
mapDistribute: support for flipping
AMIInterpolation: avoid constructing localPoints
The old separate incompressible and compressible libraries have been removed.
Most of the commonly used RANS and LES models have been upgraded to the
new framework but there are a few missing which will be added over the
next few days, in particular the realizable k-epsilon model. Some of
the less common incompressible RANS models have been introduced into the
new library instantiated for incompressible flow only. If they prove to
be generally useful they can be templated for compressible and
multiphase application.
The Spalart-Allmaras DDES and IDDES models have been thoroughly
debugged, removing serious errors concerning the use of S rather than
Omega.
The compressible instances of the models have been augmented by a simple
backward-compatible eddyDiffusivity model for thermal transport based on
alphat and alphaEff. This will be replaced with a separate run-time
selectable thermal transport model framework in a few weeks.
For simplicity and ease of maintenance and further development the
turbulent transport and wall modeling is based on nut/nuEff rather than
mut/muEff for compressible models so that all forms of turbulence models
can use the same wall-functions and other BCs.
All turbulence model selection made in the constant/turbulenceProperties
dictionary with RAS and LES as sub-dictionaries rather than in separate
files which added huge complexity for multiphase.
All tutorials have been updated so study the changes and update your own
cases by comparison with similar cases provided.
Sorry for the inconvenience in the break in backward-compatibility but
this update to the turbulence modeling is an essential step in the
future of OpenFOAM to allow more models to be added and maintained for a
wider range of cases and physics. Over the next weeks and months more
turbulence models will be added of single and multiphase flow, more
additional sub-models and further development and testing of existing
models. I hope this brings benefits to all OpenFOAM users.
Henry G. Weller
