NIHON SAMICON Inc.
Support for developing applications to automatically execute OpenFOAM calculations on Grasshopper
Overview of the Grasshopper system
You can also check the model and conditions on Rhino.
Benchmark calculation results using the application
Issues
When performing fluid calculations with OpenFOAM, it is common to configure the settings by editing a text configuration file.
There are tools that allow you to configure things using a GUI, but they are often expensive and lack functionality.
For this reason, there are currently barriers to performing fluid calculations with OpenFOAM at low cost.
To address this issue, NIHON SAMICON Inc. is considering developing an application that uses Grasshopper to automate OpenFOAM calculations, and we have decided to provide technical support, including our expertise in fluid calculations.
Implementation details
First, through a meeting, we determined the following steps for building the application:
1. Building a limited-function application
2. Verify the accuracy of the application in 1 using a benchmark for wind speed calculations over buildings
3. Improved the application so that calculations can be performed using geometries used in practice.
For the above tasks, we provided support from both the analysis and development sides, including advice on how to compare results with building-wind benchmarks, resolving implementation issues, and setting parameters.
As a result, the building-like benchmark reproduced the results of conventional benchmarks, verifying that the application worked without any problems.
We are currently working on improving the application in preparation for practical testing.
Detail of technology
Some technical details regarding the implementation of the above are described below.
We use Butterfly as a framework for performing OpenFOAM calculations in Grasshopper.
As a benchmark for wind energy calculations over buildings, we use some of the benchmarks listed in the "CFD Guidebook for Predicting Urban Wind Environments."