Getting Started with OpenFOAM
 

Greetings to all!

I'm kicking off this page already in sticky mode, to give this a rolling start.

This thread is aimed at two major topics:

1. Keeping a list of wiki pages that can help people get started with OpenFOAM as fast and best as possible.
2. To help organize topics related to newbie questions.

Which means that this very first post will mutate over time, depending on the needs proposed in the following posts. In addition, the following list can be reduced as people - that means you, who is reading this right now - help with transferring more and more information to the unofficial wiki for OpenFOAM technology, so that this kind of information can become more and more consolidated: http://openfoamwiki.net

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Here is a short list of links on where you can find more information:

1. Tutorial on "Before you Get Started with OpenFOAM": http://openfoamwiki.net/index.php/Tu...etting_Started
2. Official documentation page for OpenFOAM: http://www.openfoam.org/docs/
3. Unofficial wiki for OpenFOAM technology: http://openfoamwiki.net
4. https://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/op...-openfoam.html
5. Tutorials provided by the community and managed by OpenFOAM.com: https://wiki.openfoam.com
6. Tutorials provided by the community are also now available at the Community Contributions sub-forum with the prefix [Tutorials], click here to list them.
7. Courses that teach how to use OpenFOAM technology: http://openfoamwiki.net/index.php/Main_Courses

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Here is a list of threads where newcomers have asked about how to get started with OpenFOAM:

1. A very good compilation on how to get started with OpenFOAM: help needed with simulation of turbulent flow around an obstacle with openfoam post #3 - also referred in that post:
   • How to learn OpenFoam for a new user
   • open foam beginner pls.. help me
   • How hard is it to learn openFOAM? post #3
   • Learning OpenFOAM-new user
2. Tutorial of how to plot residuals !
3. OpenFoam programming
4. CFDToy's blog: CFD Discussions / Threads / Useful Links
5. manual/documentation/guide/tutorial/andanythingelse
6. Advanced tips for working with the OpenFOAM shell environment
7. how to visually debug the mesh in Paraview, because cutting the mesh will triangulate the mesh where it is cut:optimize snapping post #24
8. Using snappyHexMesh: Snappyhexmesh- pont inside mesh post #2
9. chtMultiRegion mesh generation: Background Mesh in snappy with multi domain (CHT)
10. Fluent mesh to OpenFOAM with AMI: OpenFoam 2.1.0/x: creation of sets and cellZones. post #20
11. "Oh my, oh my, the solver crashed, what am I going to do?"
    1. Don't panic.
    2. Start reading here: Foam::error::PrintStack - post #2
    3. Still can't figure out the problem, then read here: Parallel running of 3D multiphase turbulence model (unknown problem!!) post#3
    4. Perhaps wrong dimensions? porousSimpleFoam - crash post #2
    5. Wondering what it all means? Here's an explanation of one example: Unstabil Simulation with chtMultiRegionFoam post #11
12. One seriously awesome post explaining how to ascertain if your simulation has converged: Convergence

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A few more from my blog:

• Useful links for building and using OpenFOAM
• Notes about running OpenFOAM in parallel

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Please post more suggestions to add to this post, as well as contributing to the wiki!


Best regards,
Bruno

Allow me to lead by example.

On the following thread you can find some more details about how to set turbulence options: http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...e-problem.html

edit: http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...tml#post528060 post #4 - how to find out what boundary conditions exist and where to find out more about them.

The forum member ron_OFuser has been eagerly suggesting this thread: http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...-chalmers.html

edit: Another interesting thread: http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...01325-rho.html

How to define the initial values for k, epsilon and omega... well, there are at least 3 threads on this topic:

• http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...lon-omega.html
• http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...ive-value.html
• http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...l-value-k.html

Compilation of additional documentation:

• http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...mentation.html
• http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...beginners.html
• http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...ps-tricks.html

Hello,

After years of using GUI-based CFD software I have finally decided to try my hand at OpenFOAM. The docs on wyldcat's list have been extremely useful, but either there isn't, or I couldn't find, a lot of information about the thermophysical properties and models.

I have set up a compressible turbulent 2D simulation, and it is crashing giving me error on the thermo files (T not converging after a couple of iterations). A page/tutorial/document explaining the thermophysical models in some kind of detail would be extremely useful to help me figure out why this is happening.

Unfortunately anything in the header files that is not comment is completely lost on me, and due to time pressure it's a bit hard for me to look into learning even the basic rules of C++ before setting this model up. Even a link showing all the equations being solved would be great.

I am posting here as I guess a thermo-specific tutorial would be useful to others as well.

Many thanks!

Sorry for the late reply, but I believe I found something that might help:

• http://www.tfd.chalmers.se/~hani/kurser/OS_CFD_2014/
  • Search for the presentation "Isabelle Choquet – Thermophysical properties" - it points out a lot of the details you're looking for.

Infographic: http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...onditions.html

Hi wyldcat,

Thanks a lot, the presentation from Chalmers is very useful indeed. I will also add a link to this thread for anyone wanting to use tabulated thermophysical properties.

Official documentation reference
 

In the index of the user guide some key words have the reference P-xx. For example on U-212: "fvc class, P-34". Which document does this refer to ?

Maybe this one?

Another thread for the list: http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...-openfoam.html

A few more for the list:

• On the topic of nano-fluids and multiphase surface tension force model: http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...tml#post590278 - post #3
• http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...tml#post590454
• http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...-tutorial.html

Hi Foamers,

Here is a link that really helped me during my really first time with OpenFOAM.
Beginners, help yourself with these tutorials.

http://the-foam-house5.webnode.es/products-/

Have a nice project,
Adrien

Another one for the list: http://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/ope...-openfoam.html

This is my favourite thread :)

If you are interested in the algorithms used to solve CFD simulations (i.e. linear algebra on steroids), I found this very useful series of lectures from Prof Gilbert Strang of MIT.

The whole course is very interesting, but the most relevant lectures are 12 to 19. Maybe watch lectures 1,2, 8 and 9 as a refresher. You only need basic knowledge of differential equations and linear algebra to follow.

YouTube lecture videos
 

Greetings,

Adding to this list a link to YouTube videos of:
OpenFOAM introductory course @ Ghent University (May'16) by Prof. Hrojve Jasak.

It's a five-part video series with each video being an hour long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iZf...6xDh5L9bbeK3BL

Hope this helps.

Hello,

I had compiled a list of OpenFOAM references in a blog post (http://jibranhaider.weebly.com/blog/...openfoam-users) sometime ago. It might be useful for people who are beginning to learn OpenFOAM.

I've found out just now about Jibran's course on a PDF: https://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/op...beginners.html

I really (or anyone reading this post) need to create a wiki page at openfoamwiki.net to make it easier and allow everyone to help consolidate all of this information in a single wiki page...



edit: Here is another useful thread that Tobi wrote recently: https://www.cfd-online.com/Forums/op...tml#post711588

Dear Bruno,

I have added my course on the openfoam wiki page. I don't know the opinion of others but somehow I feel that this page can be organized and updated in a better way (just my opinion!). I believe someone needs to take control to organize and maintain all of the useful information here. I would be willing to do this job if needed. Having said all of this, it could be just me who thinks this way.