Abstract accepted for: Fourth OpenFOAM Workshop, June 1-4 2009, Montreal, Canada

Caedium: An Interactive Simulation Environment for OpenFOAM

Richard Smith, Symscape

Caedium is a CAE system designed to support CFD and other forms of analysis. The latest addition to the Caedium modular architecture is the RANS Flow add-on, which provides an interactive environment for a selection of RANS OpenFOAM solvers.

Figure 1, Caedium RANS Flow Add-On Flow Simulation.

Dimensionless (or non-dimensional) numbers, such as the Reynolds number and Mach number, are a general concept (extensively used within fluid dynamics) to allow comparison between similar flow physics carried out at different scales and with different fluid properties.

Dimensionless Pressure Coefficient Contours on a Venturi

If you are one of the lucky few that creates native geometry within a standalone Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) analysis tool or within a single Computer-Aided Design (CAD) system with embedded CAE analysis tools, then stop reading now. Just a moment though, even if you have embedded CAE tools within your CAD system, but you import geometry for analysis you will still face geometry exchange challenges.

Boundary layers are everywhere. We live within the Earth's planetary boundary layer. Airplanes exploit boundary layers to fly. Golf balls have dimples that alter boundary layer characteristics to maximize their flight time. So what are boundary layers?