If you are an engineering student who is dealing with computational fluid mechanics or want to develop himself or herself in CFD topics, the hardest thing is to find proper software.
There are lots of free versions of paid CFD software but the capabilities are very low in these free versions. So, it can be burdensome for engineering students or academics who are dealing with complex CFD projects. Sometimes they can install CFD software with malware. This malware is generally used to reach all these paid capabilities which are also very harmful to the user and illegal. One can not use these illegal versions in their formal study.
OpenFOAM is a free and open-source CFD software that you can use as an FEA software to solve and use in your complex analyses and projects!
Click to see article about FEA software that engineers are mainly using!
What is the OpenFOAM?
OpenFOAM is an FEA and CAE software that is released by OpenCFD Inc. free since 2004. There are lots of capabilities of OpenFOAM which are used by different kinds of professional and commercial organizations. Because it is open-source, it is widely used by academics.
With OpenFOAM these kinds of studies and analyses can be done;
- Chemical reactions that involve burning and mixing of fluids,
- Turbulence analysis by using CFD tools and codes,
- Heat transfer analyses of fluids,
- Solid mechanics can be also analyzed in terms of FEA,
- Electromagnetics and acoustics were also analyzed.
Every 6 months, it is released by OpenCFD Inc. in the accordance with customer reviews, user experiences, etc.
OpenFOAM Has Three Variants in the Market
OpenFOAM is a software package that is created with C++ programming language, and mainly used in three variants;
- OpenCFD variant which we gave information about it in this article,
- Foam-Extend variant from Wikki Ltd.
- OpenFOAM Foundation Inc. variant.
A YouTube Channel Recommendation About OpenFOAM
As MechanicalLand editors, we can share a YouTube channel in which interested users can find very useful information inside it. In the playlists, you can find beginner and intermediate tutorials about OpenFOAM.
- Heat transfer tutorial with OpenFOAM;
- OpenFOAM intermediate tutorials;
- A basic heat transfer analysis in OpenFOAM;
Conclusion
OpenFOAM is a very advantageous CFD software for engineers, engineering students, and academics.
Do not forget to leave your comments and questions below about the OpenFOAM CFD and FEA software.
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