Rotating machinery
Rotating machinery and MRF in OpenFOAM
Fans, pumps, mixers and turbines using a moving reference frame or sliding interfaces, with the cell zones created by topoSet rather than described in a dictionary.
What it is
A rotating region is handled either by solving in a moving reference frame (MRF), which is steady and cheap, or by actually rotating a mesh zone across a sliding interface, which is transient and resolves blade passing.
What the application sets up
- The rotating cell zone as a real topoSet region, not a note in a dictionary
- MRF or AMI configuration with rotation axis and rate
- Interface patches between rotating and stationary regions
- Torque and force reporting on the rotor
Typical uses
- Fan and blower performance curves
- Pump impeller head and efficiency
- Stirred-tank mixing
- Wind and tidal turbine rotor loads
Industries
Sectors where this analysis is routinely asked for.
- Pumps & compressors
- Fans & blowers
- Marine propulsion
- HVAC
What comes out
- Head or pressure rise at duty
- Torque and shaft power
- Blade loading distribution
- Stall and recirculation onset
OpenFOAM solvers
simpleFoampimpleFoamoverPimpleDyMFoam
Selected and configured for you from the analysis type. You can still see every dictionary the application writes.
In every tier
This analysis type is in the free build. The free tier limits mesh size to 250,000 cells and solving to one core — not which physics you may use.
On accuracy, plainly.
Every analysis type is exercised end to end on every pass — its case is generated, meshed and run — which establishes that the setup is right, not that the answer matches your geometry. No CFD result is evidence until it is checked against something you trust: a measurement, a hand calculation, or a mesh-refinement study the application will run for you. Treat these results with the judgement you would apply to any CFD you set up yourself.