Standard solvers

Standard solvers

An extensive set of OpenFOAM solvers has evolved (and is forever growing) that are available to users.

OpenFOAM is used mainly for CFD but has found use in other areas such as stress analysis, electromagnetics and finance because it is fundamentally a tool for solving partial differential equations rather than a CFD package in the traditional sense.

Below is a list of solvers available to our users.

‘Basic’ CFD codes


laplacianFoam Solves a simple Laplace equation, e.g. for thermal diffusion in a solid
potentialFoam Simple potential flow solver which can be used to generate starting fields for full Navier-Stokes codes
scalarTransportFoam Solves a transport equation for a passive scalar
 
Incompressible flow


boundaryFoam Steady-state solver for 1D turbulent flow, typically to generate boundary layer conditions at an inlet, for use in a simulation
channelFoam Incompressible LES solver for flow in a channel
icoFoam Transient solver for incompressible, laminar flow of Newtonian fluids
nonNewtonianIcoFoam Transient solver for incompressible, laminar flow of non-Newtonian fluids
pimpleDyMFoam Transient solver for incompressible, flow of Newtonian fluids on a moving mesh using the PIMPLE (merged PISO-SIMPLE) algorithm
pimpleFoam Large time-step transient solver for incompressible, flow using the PIMPLE (merged PISO-SIMPLE) algorithm
pisoFoam Transient solver for incompressible flow
shallowWaterFoam Transient solver for inviscid shallow-water equations with rotation
simpleFoam Steady-state solver for incompressible, turbulent flow
 
Compressible flow


rhoCentralFoam Density-based compressible flow solver based on central-upwind schemes of Kurganov and Tadmor
rhoPimpleFoam Transient solver for laminar or turbulent flow of compressible fluids for HVAC and similar applications
rhoPisoFoam Transient PISO solver for compressible, laminar or turbulent flow
rhoPorousSimpleFoam Steady-state solver for turbulent flow of compressible fluids with RANS turbulence modelling, and implicit or explicit porosity treatment
rhopSonicFoam Pressure-density-based compressible flow solver
rhoSimpleFoam Steady-state SIMPLE solver for laminar or turbulent RANS flow of compressible fluids
rhoSonicFoam Density-based compressible flow solver
sonicDyMFoam Transient solver for trans-sonic/supersonic, laminar or turbulent flow of a compressible gas with mesh motion
sonicFoam Transient solver for trans-sonic/supersonic, laminar or turbulent flow of a compressible gas
sonicLiquidFoam Transient solver for trans-sonic/supersonic, laminar flow of a compressible liquid
 
Multiphase flow


bubbleFoam Solver for a system of 2 incompressible fluid phases with one phase dispersed, e.g. gas bubbles in a liquid
cavitatingFoam Transient cavitation code based on the barotropic equation of state
compressibleInterDyMFoam Solver for 2 compressible, isothermal immiscible fluids using a VOF (volume of fluid) phase-fraction based interface capturing approach, with optional mesh motion and mesh topology changes including adaptive re-meshing
compressibleInterFoam Solver for 2 compressible, isothermal immiscible fluids using a VOF (volume of fluid) phase-fraction based interface capturing approach
interDyMFoam Solver for 2 incompressible, isothermal immiscible fluids using a VOF (volume of fluid) phase-fraction based interface capturing approach, with optional mesh motion and mesh topology changes including adaptive re-meshing
interFoam Solver for 2 incompressible, isothermal immiscible fluids using a VOF (volume of fluid) phase-fraction based interface capturing approach
interPhaseChangeFoam Solver for 2 incompressible, isothermal immiscible fluids with phase-change (e.g. cavitation). Uses a VOF (volume of fluid) phase-fraction based interface capturing approach
multiphaseInterFoam Solver for n  \relax \special {t4ht= incompressible fluids which captures the interfaces and includes surface-tension and contact-angle effects for each phase
settlingFoam Solver for 2 incompressible fluids for simulating the settling of the dispersed phase
twoLiquidMixingFoam Solver for mixing 2 incompressible fluids
twoPhaseEulerFoam Solver for a system of 2 incompressible fluid phases with one phase dispersed, e.g. gas bubbles in a liquid
 
Direct numerical simulation (DNS) and large eddy simulation (LES)


dnsFoam Direct numerical simulation solver for boxes of isotropic turbulence
 
Combustion


coldEngineFoam Solver for cold-flow in internal combustion engines
dieselEngineFoam Solver for diesel engine spray and combustion
dieselFoam Solver for diesel spray and combustion
engineFoam Solver for internal combustion engines
PDRFoam Solver for compressible premixed/partially-premixed combustion with turbulence modelling
reactingFoam Solver for combustion with chemical reactions
rhoReactingFoam Solver for combustion with chemical reactions using density based thermodynamics package
XiFoam Solver for compressible premixed/partially-premixed combustion with turbulence modelling
 
Particle-tracking flows


coalChemistryFoam Transient solver for compressible, turbulent flow with coal and limestone parcel injections, and combustion
porousExplicitSourceReactingParcelFoam Transient PISO solver for compressible, laminar or turbulent flow with reacting Lagrangian parcels for porous media, including explicit sources
reactingParcelFoam Transient PISO solver for compressible, laminar or turbulent flow with reacting Lagrangian parcels
uncoupledKinematicParcelFoam Transient solver for the passive transport of a single kinematic particle could
 
Heat transfer and buoyancy-driven flows


buoyantBoussinesqPisoFoam Transient solver for buoyant, turbulent flow of incompressible fluids
buoyantBoussinesqSimpleFoam Steady-state solver for buoyant, turbulent flow of incompressible fluids
buoyantPisoFoam Transient solver for buoyant, turbulent flow of compressible fluids for ventilation and heat-transfer
buoyantSimpleFoam Steady-state solver for buoyant, turbulent flow of compressible fluids
buoyantSimpleRadiationFoam Steady-state solver for buoyant, turbulent flow of compressible fluids, including radiation, for ventilation and heat-transfer
chtMultiRegionFoam Combination of heatConductionFoam and buoyantFoam for conjugate heat transfer between a solid region and fluid region
 
Molecular dynamics methods


mdEquilibrationFoam Equilibrates and/or preconditions molecular dynamics systems
mdFoam Molecular dynamics solver for fluid dynamics
 
Direct simulation Monte Carlo methods


dsmcFoam Direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) solver for 3D, transient, multi- species flows
 
Electromagnetics


electrostaticFoam Solver for electrostatics
mhdFoam Solver for magnetohydrodynamics (MHD): incompressible, laminar flow of a conducting fluid under the influence of a magnetic field
 
Stress analysis of solids


solidDisplacementFoam Transient segregated finite-volume solver of linear-elastic, small-strain deformation of a solid body, with optional thermal diffusion and thermal stresses
solidEquilibriumDisplacementFoam Steady-state segregated finite-volume solver of linear-elastic, small-strain deformation of a solid body, with optional thermal diffusion and thermal stresses
 
Finance


financialFoam Solves the Black-Scholes equation to price commodities