OpenFOAM

OpenFOAM (for "Open source Field Operation And Manipulation") is a C++ toolbox for the development of customized numerical solvers, and pre-/post-processing utilities for the solution of continuum mechanics problems, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The code is released as free and open source software under the GNU General Public License. It is managed, maintained and distributed by The OpenFOAM Foundation, which is supported by voluntary contributors. The OpenFOAM name is a registered trademark of OpenCFD Ltd and licensed to the OpenFOAM Foundation Ltd.

History

OpenFOAM (originally, FOAM) was created by Henry Weller from the late 1980s at Imperial College, London, to develop a more powerful and flexible general simulation platform than the de facto standard at the time, FORTRAN. This led to the choice of C++ as programming language, due to its modularity and object oriented features. In 2004, Henry Weller, Chris Greenshields and Mattijs Janssens founded OpenCFD Ltd to develop and release OpenFOAM. On 8 August 2011, OpenCFD was acquired by Silicon Graphics International (SGI). At the same time, the copyright of OpenFOAM was transferred to the OpenFOAM Foundation, a newly founded, not-for-profit organisation that manages OpenFOAM and distributes it to the general public. On 12 September 2012, the ESI Group announced the acquisition of OpenCFD Ltd from SGI. In 2014, Weller and Greenshields left ESI Group and continue the development and management of OpenFOAM, on behalf of the OpenFOAM Foundation, at CFD Direct.