Fluidica is a graphical user interface, written in Matlab, to a computational fluid dynamis (CFD) code, written in Fortran, and compiled into Matlab using MEX functions.
The intention is to create a CFD program that is as simple as possible to run, so that students and professionals can learn about fluid dynamics, and computing flows, in a single simple-to-use environment. It is easy to change out geometries, change grid resolutions, change the accuracy with which far-field boundary conditions are treated, etc. This way the user can quickly determine not only the flow field, but also the accuracy to which it has been approximated by the software.
Results are presented in a graphical way, but advanced users will also find tools that allow them to interrogate the flow fields quantiatively. Flow fields an be read directly into the Matlab workspace for analysis.
What flows can be computed?
Fluidica can compute 2D incompressible, potential and viscous flows, principally external flows around bodies. Fluidica can handle arbitrarily complex bodies, subject of course to the users patience in waiting for a solution (more complex bodies require finer or larger grids that in turn drive up CPU time per time step). By cleverly choosing the body, certain internal flows can also be simulated.
Fluidica is currently limited to two-dimensional flows. The reason is that Fluidica works best when the user can see the flow evolving as it is computed. This is not possible with 3D flows because the CPU time required, per time step, means that the user would simply stare at a blank screen for several minutes between updates. The alogirthm behind Fluidica, the immersed boundary projection method, is capable of more general solutions including 3D flows, flows with moving bodies, fluid-structure interactions, etc. These features may be made available in Fluidica as computers grow faster, and provided we have time to write the interface!
Fluidica treats solid surfaces as a set of stationary marker points, and attempts to enforce no-slip conditions at those points. If the grid is sufficiently fine than this gives an accurate representation of the flow near the surface. Fluidica solves for the flow everywhere in the domain, so if you define a surface, say a cylinder, Fluidica finds the flow outside and inside the cylinder. Since the body is stationary, the flow outside the body is near identical to that which would exist if the body were really solid (i.e. filled with solid material). The approximation becomes better as the mesh is refined.
License Agreement
Fluidica software (the Matlab GUI functions, and the Fortran code that it compiles and runs) is open source and it is required that users read, understand, and abide by the license agrement.
Use fluidica at your own risk!
While every effort has been made to ensure that the Fortran and Matlab code are free from bugs, and the algorithm has been validated and verified with many examples (and by many people), we make no warranty, expressed or implied, that the results obtained by using the software are correct.
Fluidica Gallery
