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implementBoundaryCondition

The document provides a detailed guide on implementing a new boundary condition in OpenFOAM, specifically the parabolicVelocityFvPatchVectorField. It outlines the steps for copying, compiling, and using the boundary condition as a dynamic library, including necessary configurations in the Makefiles and controlDict. Additionally, it explains the structure and functionality of the boundary condition class, including its private data and member functions.

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15 views

implementBoundaryCondition

The document provides a detailed guide on implementing a new boundary condition in OpenFOAM, specifically the parabolicVelocityFvPatchVectorField. It outlines the steps for copying, compiling, and using the boundary condition as a dynamic library, including necessary configurations in the Makefiles and controlDict. Additionally, it explains the structure and functionality of the boundary condition class, including its private data and member functions.

Uploaded by

Igor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CFD with OpenSource Software, 2015

How to implement a new boundary condition

©Håkan Nilsson, Chalmers / Applied Mechanics / Fluid Dynamics 1


CFD with OpenSource Software, 2015

How to implement a new boundary condition


• The implementations of the boundary conditions are located in
$FOAM_SRC/finiteVolume/fields/fvPatchFields/

• To add a new boundary condition, start by finding one that does almost what you want. Copy
that to your user directories under the same directory structure as the original installation.

• We will now check out the parabolicVelocityFvPatchVectorField boundary condition


from the OpenFOAM-extend project at SourceForge, and compile and use it as a dynamic
library.

©Håkan Nilsson, Chalmers / Applied Mechanics / Fluid Dynamics 2


CFD with OpenSource Software, 2015

Compile your boundary condition as a new dynamic library


• Copy the boundary condition to $WM_PROJECT_USER_DIR (from the OpenFOAM-extend
project at SourceForge):
mkdir -p $WM_PROJECT_USER_DIR/src/finiteVolume/fields/fvPatchFields/derived
cd $WM_PROJECT_USER_DIR/src/finiteVolume/fields/fvPatchFields/derived
svn checkout svn://svn.code.sf.net/p/openfoam-extend/svn/trunk/\
Core/OpenFOAM-1.5-dev/src/finiteVolume/fields/fvPatchFields/\
derived/parabolicVelocity
cd $WM_PROJECT_USER_DIR/src/finiteVolume
• We need a Make/files file (c.f. $FOAM_SRC/finiteVolume/Make):
fvPatchFields = fields/fvPatchFields
derivedFvPatchFields = $(fvPatchFields)/derived
$(derivedFvPatchFields)/parabolicVelocity/parabolicVelocityFvPatchVectorField.C
LIB = $(FOAM_USER_LIBBIN)/libmyFiniteVolume
• We need a Make/options file:
EXE_INC = \
-I$(LIB_SRC)/finiteVolume/lnInclude
EXE_LIBS =

• Compile the dynamic library:


wmake libso

©Håkan Nilsson, Chalmers / Applied Mechanics / Fluid Dynamics 3


CFD with OpenSource Software, 2015

Use your boundary condition from the dynamic library


• Set up a new case:
run
cp -r $FOAM_TUTORIALS/incompressible/simpleFoam/pitzDaily \
pitzDailyParabolicInlet
cd pitzDailyParabolicInlet
blockMesh

• Modify the entry for the inlet boundary condition in 0/U to:

type parabolicVelocity;
n (1 0 0);
y (0 1 0);
maxValue 1;
value uniform (0 0 0); // Dummy for paraFoam

The contents of this entry must be in accordance with the constructor in the
parabolicVelocityFvPatchVectorField class. n is the direction of the flow, y is the
coordinate direction of the profile, and maxvalue is the centerline velocity.

©Håkan Nilsson, Chalmers / Applied Mechanics / Fluid Dynamics 4


CFD with OpenSource Software, 2015

Use your boundary condition from the dynamic library


• The boundary condition will not be recognized by any of the original OpenFOAM solvers
unless we tell OpenFOAM that the library exists.
Add a line in the system/controlDict file:
libs ("libmyFiniteVolume.so");

i.e. the library must be added for each case that will use it, but no re-compilation is needed
for any solver. libmyFiniteVolume.so is found using the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environ-
ment variable, and if you followed the instructions on how to set up OpenFOAM and compile
the boundary condition this should work automatically.
• You can now run the case using the original simpleFoam solver. Note that we never re-
compiled the original simpleFoam solver, and if you do ldd `which simpleFoam` your
new library will NOT show up since it is linked at run-time (using dlopen).

©Håkan Nilsson, Chalmers / Applied Mechanics / Fluid Dynamics 5


CFD with OpenSource Software, 2015

A look at the boundary condition


• The parabolicVelocityFvPatchVectorField boundary condition consists of two files:
parabolicVelocityFvPatchVectorField.C
parabolicVelocityFvPatchVectorField.H
• The .H-file is the header file, and it is included in the header of the .C-file.

• We can see (.H) that we create a sub class to the fixedValueFvPatchVectorField:


class parabolicVelocityFvPatchVectorField:
public fixedValueFvPatchVectorField
i.e. this is for Dirichlet (fixed) boundary conditions for vector fields.

• The class has the private data


//- Peak velocity magnitude
scalar maxValue_;
//- Flow direction
vector n_;
//- Direction of the y-coordinate
vector y_;

©Håkan Nilsson, Chalmers / Applied Mechanics / Fluid Dynamics 6


CFD with OpenSource Software, 2015

A look at the boundary condition


• The TypeName("parabolicVelocity"), used when specifying the boundary condition, is
defined.

• There are some public constructors and member functions that are defined in detail in the
.C-file.

• We used the third constructor when we tested the boundary condition, i.e. we read the
member data from a dictionary.

• The actual implementation of the boundary condition can be found in the updateCoeffs()
member function:

boundBox bb(patch().patch().localPoints(), true);


vector ctr = 0.5*(bb.max() + bb.min());
const vectorField& c = patch().Cf();
scalarField coord = 2*((c - ctr) & y_)/((bb.max() - bb.min()) & y_);
vectorField::operator=(n_*maxValue_*(1.0 - sqr(coord)));

©Håkan Nilsson, Chalmers / Applied Mechanics / Fluid Dynamics 7


CFD with OpenSource Software, 2015

A look at the boundary condition


• The member function write defines how to write out the boundary values in the time direc-
tory. The final line, writeEntry("value", os); writes out all the values, which is only
needed for post-processing.

• Find out more about all the variables by including the following in the end of the updateCoeffs
member function:

Info <<
"c" << c << endl;
Info <<
"ctr" << ctr << endl;
Info <<
"y_" << y_ << endl;
Info <<
"bb.max()" << bb.max() << endl;
Info <<
"bb.min()" << bb.min() << endl;
Info <<
"(c - ctr)" << c - ctr << endl;
Info <<
"((c - ctr) & y_)" << ((c - ctr) & y_) << endl;
Info <<
"((bb.max() - bb.min()) & y_)" <<
((bb.max() - bb.min()) & y_) << endl;
Info << "coord" << coord << endl;

©Håkan Nilsson, Chalmers / Applied Mechanics / Fluid Dynamics 8

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