fieldAverage

Description

The fieldAverage function object computes ensemble- and/or time-based field averages, with optional windowing, for a user-specified selection of volumetric and/or surface fields.

Fields are entered as a list of sub-dictionaries, which indicate the type of averages to perform, and can be updated during the calculation. The current options include:

  • mean: arithmetic mean

    \[ \overline{x} = \frac{1}{N}\displaystyle\sum\limits_{i=0}^N x_i \]

  • prime2Mean: prime-squared mean

    \[ \overline{x'}^2 = \frac{1}{N} \displaystyle\sum\limits_{i=0}^N (x_i - \overline{x})^2 \]

  • base: average over 'time', or 'iteration' (N in the above)
  • window: optional averaging window, specified in 'base' units

Average field names are constructed by concatenating the base field with the averaging type, e.g. when averaging field 'U', the name of resultant fields becomes:

  • arithmetic mean field, UMean
  • prime-squared field, UPrime2Mean

Information regarding the number of averaging steps, and total averaging time are written on a per-field basis to the <functionObject name>Properties dictionary, located in <time>/uniform.

When restarting form a previous calculation, the averaging is continuous or may be restarted using the restartOnRestart option.

The averaging process may be restarted after each calculation output time using the restartOnOutput option or restarted periodically using the periodicRestart option and setting restartPeriod to the required averaging period.

With the subRegion option, also supports fields on function object surface output (e.g., sampledSurfaces).

Operands

Operand Type Location
input {vol,surface}<Type>Field(s) $FOAM_CASE/<time>/<inpField>s
output file - -
output field {vol,surface}<Type>Field(s) $FOAM_CASE/<time>/<outField>s

where <Type>=Scalar/Vector/SphericalTensor/SymmTensor/Tensor.

Usage

Example of the fieldAverage function object by using functions sub-dictionary in system/controlDict file:

fieldAverage1
{
    // Mandatory entries (unmodifiable)
    type            fieldAverage;
    libs            (fieldFunctionObjects);

    // Mandatory entries (runtime modifiable)
    fields
    (
        <field name 1>
        {
            mean        <yes|no>;
            prime2Mean  <yes|no>;
            base        <time|iteration>;
            windowType   exact;
            window       10.0;
            windowName   <name>;
            allowRestart true;
        }
        ...
        <field name N>
        {
            mean        <yes|no>;
            prime2Mean  <yes|no>;
            base        <time|iter>;
       }
    );

    // Optional entries (runtime modifiable)
    restartOnRestart    false;
    restartOnOutput     false;
    periodicRestart     false;
    restartPeriod       0.002;

    // Optional (inherited) entries
    region          region0;
    enabled         true;
    log             true;
    timeStart       0;
    timeEnd         1000;
    executeControl  timeStep;
    executeInterval 1;
    writeControl    timeStep;
    writeInterval   1;
 }

where the entries mean:

Property Description Type Required Default
type Type name: fieldAverage word yes -
libs Library name: fieldFunctionObjects word yes -
fields Names of the operand fields and averaging options dict yes -
restartOnRestart Restart the averaging on restart bool no false
restartOnOutput Restart the averaging on output bool no false
periodicRestart Periodically restart the averaging bool no false
restartPeriod Periodic restart period scalar conditional -
restartTime One-shot reset of the averaging scalar no GREAT
subRegion Name for alternative objectRegistry word no ""

The inherited entries are elaborated in:

Usage by the postProcess utility is not available.

Stored properties

Average fields are stored on the mesh database, using the default name constructions:

<field>Mean
<field>Prime2Mean

These are written to the standard time directories according to the writeControl setting.

Further information

Tutorial:

Source code:

History

  • Introduced in version v1606+