How to Start Using OpenFOAM

Model a 3D CFD geometry in salome by creating a 1 m sphere, extruding a surrounding enclosure, and using boolean subtraction to form a cavity wall for symmetric wake flow.

Select faces, create groups, and assign boundary names such as inlet, outlet, sphere, symmetry, and wind tunnel walls to define OpenFOAM boundary conditions in Salome.

Create and refine a 3D mesh in Salomé by applying mesh settings, computing the mesh, and increasing fineness near the sphere to support a demonstration in OpenFOAM.

Create face groups for boundary conditions in Salome, assign to nodes, then export the mesh as mesh.unv in a new folder named flow over heart sphere for OpenFOAM workflows.

Copy the OpenFOAM case structure from the tutorials folder into your project, copy the heat transfer circuit board cooling folders, rename the zero folder as required, and import the mesh.

Navigate to the OpenFOAM folder in the Ubuntu terminal, list contents with ls, and import the mesh by running unvToFoam on mesh.unv.

Visualize OpenFOAM mesh in Paraview by importing a case, viewing the geometry, inspecting boundary faces, and setting boundary conditions before running the simulation.

Edit the constant/polyMesh/boundary file to apply boundary conditions on five faces—set inlet and outlet as patches, sphere and walls as type one, and symmetry for the symmetry face.

OpenFOAM guide: set boundary conditions in the zero folder by copying patch names and applying zero gradient at the outlet, no-slip walls, symmetry, and fixed value for inlet and sphere.

Set gravity in the g file under constant to -9.81 in the z direction, then configure 600 iterations in system control dict with the simple form solver for heat transfer.

Set up controlDict and launch the OpenFOAM simulation by saving the file and running the command in the terminal. Save results every ten iterations as you make runtime modifications.

Post-process OpenFOAM results in Paraview to visualize pressure and temperature around a heated sphere, using slices, vector glyphs, and custom legends to reveal air heating behind the sphere.

Learn to set up a multiphase tank filling and emptying case in open foam using the inter form solver, starting by importing and matching geometry in salome.

Create and name boundary groups in Salome for a 2d OpenFOAM setup, marking inlet, outlet, atmosphere, and walls, using edge selection, hiding steps, and applying the groups.

Create a uniform, very fine mesh in Salome by setting element size to 0.006, computing, and fitting the geometry, then group geometry, and extrude the mesh for export to OpenFOAM.

Create a three-dimensional mesh with a single z-direction cell in Salome, extrude in z by 0.001 m, rename boundaries, and export the mesh as a .unv file for OpenFOAM.

Learn to set up an interFoam tank filling simulation by importing a mesh, copying four case files from the water channel tutorial, and opening the case to view results.

Navigate to the case folder on the drive and import the mesh in OpenFOAM using the terminal. Verify the import by the printed confirmation and view the mesh.

Open OpenFOAM, import the mesh, and view it with edges to reveal inlet, outlet, and atmosphere boundaries; set empty boundary conditions for a 2D simulation.

Set boundary types in constant/polyMesh and zero folder, assigning inlet, outlet, atmosphere, and default faces with patch, wall, and empty conditions, plus an inlet velocity of 0.1 m/s along x.

Delete unused turbulence files and other unnecessary files in constant and system folders for laminar runs. Set gravity to the negative y direction and keep water and air transport properties.

Set up controlDict parameters, define end time and time step, enable runtime modification, fix alpha.water, replace FP scheme and FP solution to prevent divergence, and launch the OpenFOAM simulation.

Visualize post-processing of OpenFOAM results in ParaView by animating tank filling and emptying, where alpha values distinguish water from air regions, with a 0.1 m/s inlet velocity and outlet flow.