10 Fun3D Projects to Try This Weekend
Fun3D is a powerful CFD suite (developed by NASA) — these weekend projects range from quick visual demos to small design-exploration tasks. Each project lists the goal, estimated time, required files/tools, and steps to complete.
| Project | Goal | Est. time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Run a baseline inviscid OM6 wing case | Produce a coarse inviscid flow solution and visualize pressure on the wing | 1–2 hrs |
| 2. Compare inviscid vs. viscous solution for the OM6 wing | See how viscous models change results and boundary layers | 2–4 hrs |
| 3. Grid-refinement study (coarse → fine) | Observe solution convergence with mesh refinement | 2–4 hrs |
| 4. Simple airfoil drag polar sweep | Compute lift/drag at several angles of attack and plot polar | 2–3 hrs |
| 5. Mesh adaptation with refine (shape adaptation demo) | Use FUN3D adaptation to improve resolution around shocks/BL | 3–5 hrs |
| 6. Parameterize and morph a wing section with Sculptor/MASSOUD | Change a few shape variables and run quick sensitivity cases | 3–6 hrs |
| 7. Run a steady-to-unsteady transient demo | Run short unsteady simulation to visualize vortex shedding | 3–6 hrs |
| 8. Actuator-disk rotor wake demo | Test FUN3D’s actuator-disk model for rotor/propulsor flow | 2–4 hrs |
| 9. Adjoint-based gradient check (small optimization) | Compute adjoint sensitivities for a simple design metric | 4–8 hrs |
| 10. Tecplot visualization & animated surface output | Produce animations of surface pressure/streamlines for presentation | 1–2 hrs |
Quick setup (assumed defaults)
- Use FUN3D v14+ (or latest available).
- Install required executables (nodet / nodet_mpi) and Tecplot or another compatible viewer.
- Download tutorial case files from the FUN3D website (e.g., OM6 demo, flow_demo2).
- Reasonable default compute: single-node desktop for coarse cases; MPI/GPU optional for larger runs.
Step-by-step template (use for most projects)
- Create a working directory and unpack tutorial tarball (example: flow_demo2).
- Inspect and, if needed, copy the appropriate namelist (fun3d.nml) for the experiment.
- Run the solver:
- Sequential: nodet –animation_freq -1
- MPI: mpirun -npnodet –animation_freq -1
- Monitor residuals and convergence; adjust iterations/time step as needed.
- Postprocess: load Tecplot files (surface .plt or volume outputs) and create contour/streamline plots or animations.
- Iterate meshes or parameters for comparison studies.
Tips
- Start with the provided tutorial files (OM6/OM6viscous) to avoid geometry/mesh prep.
- For visualization, export surface outputs each N iterations with –animation_freq.
- When trying adjoint or optimization demos, limit design variables to a small set to keep runs short.
- Use coarse meshes for weekend experiments; refine later if results warrant.
If you’d like, I can expand any single project into a detailed, step-by-step tutorial with exact input-file edits and command lines for your OS.
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