OpenFOAM is leading software for computational fluid dynamics (CFD). It is licensed free and open source only under the GNU General Public Licence (GPL) by the OpenFOAM Foundation.
OpenFOAM Training
Unlock the power of OpenFOAM to deliver robust CFD solutions. Essential, Applied, Programming and Cloud OpenFOAM Training courses from the Architects of OpenFOAM.
OpenFOAM Development
Our team undertakes OpenFOAM Development projects and code customisation, with experience of managing and executing over 100 development projects.
OpenFOAM Support
OpenFOAM Support, direct from the founders and architect of OpenFOAM, covering software deployment and operation, CFD practice, and code customisation.
CFD Direct Year 8: 2022-2023
In Year 8 of CFD Direct, we made some very significant developments to OpenFOAM, including non-conformal coupling, modular solvers and redesign of the dynamic mesh functionality. We managed the OpenFOAM Foundation, releasing OpenFOAM v10, packaging OpenFOAM-dev and publishing websites and documentation. We provided 63 days of OpenFOAM Training to users around the world, supported by the release of our book, “Notes on Computational Fluid Dynamics: General Principles”. We released Web CFD Direct From the Cloud (CFDDFC®), providing OpenFOAM which can be accessed from a remote desktop running in a web browser.
Dynamic Meshes in OpenFOAM
“Dynamic mesh” describes situations where the mesh in CFD changes, either topologically by adding or removing cells, or by capturing the motion of the solution domain. It also relates to changes in the distribution of cells during a parallel simulation. This article describes the redesign of dynamic mesh functionality, released in OpenFOAM v10 and the development version of OpenFOAM (OpenFOAM-dev). The redesign was motivated by the development of non-conformal coupling (NCC). It specifically overcame a limitation of the previous dynamic mesh functionality which permitted only a single form of mesh motion or topological change within a simulation.
Modular Solvers in OpenFOAM
In August 2022, CFD Direct introduced modular solvers to the OpenFOAM development version. Modular solvers are written as classes, in contrast to the traditional application solvers which have been integral to OpenFOAM since icoFoam in 1993. They are simpler to use, maintain and understand than application solvers. They are more flexible; in particular, modules for different fluids and solids can be coupled across multiple regions, e.g. for conjugate heat transfer (CHT) with multiphase flow. Modular solvers are deployed using the foamRun or foamMultiRun applications, which contain a generic solution algorithm for single and multiple regions, respectively. Additional modules and applications replace existing tools for data processing and case configuration.
Web CFDDFC® Released
CFD Direct is pleased to announce the release of Web CFD Direct From the Cloud (CFDDFC®), providing OpenFOAM via a remote desktop in a web browser, running on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Web CFDDFC is a pay-as-you-go Amazon Machine Image (AMI) from AWS Marketplace, providing a full desktop environment with graphical applications, including OpenFOAM v10, ParaView v5.6.0, OpenMPI v4.1.1 and FreeCAD v0.19.2, running on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Web CFDDFC runs on single instances with up to 64 C6i Intel cores (c6i.32xlarge) or 96 C6a AMD cores (c6a.48xlarge), and in clusters with with good parallel scaling on clusters of instances up to 1000 cores.