BeginnerCFDEngineering

Run Your First OpenFOAM Simulation

Set up, mesh, run and post-process a laminar pipe flow case from the command line.

Estimated completion: 45 min

Objective

Complete a full OpenFOAM workflow end to end and post-process the result in ParaView.

1
Copy a tutorial case
Start from an existing validated case rather than an empty folder. It gives you a working dictionary structure to modify.
2
Define the geometry and mesh
Edit blockMeshDict for the pipe dimensions, then run blockMesh and checkMesh. Do not continue until checkMesh reports no errors.
3
Set boundary conditions
Define inlet velocity, outlet pressure and no-slip walls in the 0/ directory. Keep units consistent in SI.
4
Configure the solver
Choose icoFoam for laminar incompressible flow and set the time step so the Courant number stays below 1.
5
Run and monitor
Launch the solver and watch the residuals. Falling residuals with a stable Courant number indicate a healthy run.
6
Post-process
Open the case in ParaView, plot the velocity profile at the outlet and compare it with the analytical parabolic profile.

A fully developed parabolic velocity profile matching the analytical Hagen-Poiseuille solution within a few percent.

Problem	How to fix it
Solver diverges immediately	Reduce the time step and confirm boundary condition types match the solver.
checkMesh reports high skewness	Simplify block grading or increase cell counts in the affected direction.