OpenFOAM
Open-source CFD toolbox for industrial flow and heat transfer. Shirsh uses it on projects and runs OpenFOAM training; there is no licence to buy.
Official websiteAbout OpenFOAM
OpenFOAM is a free, open-source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) toolbox written in C++. It solves the governing equations with the finite volume method on unstructured meshes and comes with a large set of ready solvers for incompressible and compressible flow, heat transfer, buoyancy-driven flow, multiphase flow and turbulence, along with its own meshing and post-processing utilities.
Because the source code is open and there are no licence limits on cores, OpenFOAM suits long parametric studies, large meshes and automated workflows where a commercial licence would be the bottleneck. Shirsh Technosolutions uses OpenFOAM alongside ANSYS Fluent, choosing the tool that fits the physics, the run count and the client's budget, and checking results against hand calculations and known benchmarks before they go into a report.
Licensing and training. OpenFOAM is open source, so Shirsh does not sell or license it and there is no licence fee to pay. What we offer is training: hands-on OpenFOAM courses for engineers and teams who want to set up, run and check their own cases, along with consulting support on live projects.
Key features
Finite volume solver on unstructured polyhedral meshes
snappyHexMesh and blockMesh meshing utilities
Open C++ source that can be extended with custom models
Scriptable case set-up for automated parametric runs
Built-in post-processing with ParaView output
Capabilities
Steady and transient incompressible and compressible flow
RANS and LES turbulence modelling
Conjugate and buoyancy-driven heat transfer
Multiphase flow with volume of fluid and Eulerian approaches
Species transport and scalar mixing
Parallel runs on many cores with no licence limit
Applications
Building and basement ventilation, smoke and contaminant dispersion
Wind loads and pressure coefficients on structures and solar arrays
Mixing in tanks, reactors and pipelines
Heat exchanger and electronics cooling studies
Parametric design studies with many runs
Target users
Target users
Projects powered by this tool
Swing Check Valve CFD: Pressure Drop and Flow at Every Disc Opening
Swing check valve CFD in ANSYS Fluent. Pressure drop across the flow range and flow at each disc opening, with a documented method for the valve maker.
ReadAntenna Wind Load CFD and FEA: Structural Check of a Multi-Band Omni Antenna Stack
Antenna wind load CFD in ANSYS Fluent, with surface pressures mapped into ANSYS Mechanical FEA to check every part of a stacked omni antenna.
ReadBESS Container CFD and Structural FEA: Cooling Airflow, Wind and Seismic Checks
CFD of cooling airflow around battery racks and FEA of the container for wind and seismic loads, so a BESS integrator could fix its layout early.
ReadTransient CFD of a Controlled Cooling Conveyor for Hot Steel Castings
Transient CFD of a casting cooling conveyor: blower jets and casting temperature tracked zone by zone to size the blowers before the line was built.
ReadRefinery Static Mixer CFD: Multiphase Mixing and Pressure Drop Before Supply
Multiphase CFD of a refinery static mixer in ANSYS Fluent. A reworked element layout gave a stable flow and the mixer was cleared for supply.
ReadData Centre Cooling CFD: Airflow and Aisle Temperatures in Contained Rack Rows
Data centre cooling CFD of contained rack rows with in-row coolers. Airflow and aisle temperatures compared across seven rack layouts.
ReadArticles featuring this tool
Electrolyser Halls: What Air Changes Can and Cannot Do for Hydrogen
A room-average check can show a small hydrogen leak diluted to a few percent of the LFL, while a larger hole in the range IEC 60079-10-1 works with fills the same room past the LFL in under four minutes. We set out what the 2020 edition asks for and run the check on a generic electrolyser room.
ReadBESS Container HVAC: Why One Rack Runs Hot and What CFD Shows
A BESS container HVAC unit controls on its return air, and that reading can stay the same while the racks inside breathe very different air. We ran four OpenFOAM cases on a generic ten-rack container to show which rack ran hottest, why 30% more airflow barely changed the pattern, and how swapping the supply and return closed most of the gap.
ReadCar Park Ventilation: Why CO Sensors Miss the Moving Dead Zones
A car park can meet its air change rate and still have corners where exhaust gas lingers, because the rate says nothing about the route the air takes. We ran four OpenFOAM cases on a generic basement to show where the dead zones sit with extract fans alone, what four jet fans change, how one fan out of service moves the problem, and what six ordinary aisle sensors actually see.
ReadSolar on Highway Viaducts: What Changes in the IS 875 Wind Check
SECI has tendered solar on the elevated section of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, and a module on a viaduct does not see the wind a ground-mount module sees. We run the IS 875 check at deck heights, where the pressure in terrain categories 2 and 3 rises by 14.5% to 35.7%, and set out what the code leaves to the designer.
ReadVerified Is Not Validated: What a Simulation Report Can Claim
A mesh study shows that the equations were solved well. It does not show that they were the right equations. I set out what verification and validation each let a simulation report claim, and the words I use when there is no test data to compare against.
ReadLiquid Cooling Flow Split Across Cold Plates: What CFD Shows
A CDU sees one flow and one pressure, so it cannot tell you whether every cold plate on a rack manifold gets its share. We ran five OpenFOAM cases on an eight-branch manifold to show how the return arrangement and plate pressure drop set the split, and why one fouled plate can hide behind a healthy CDU reading.
ReadRooftop Solar EPCs: Why Code-Compliant Arrays Still Fail in Wind
Rooftop arrays designed to IS 875 still lose modules in storms, and the EPC is the one called back to site. The code gives one coefficient for the whole array, but the wind does not load a roof that way. Six OpenFOAM cases show where the load really goes, and what an EPC should change before the clamps and anchors are bought.
ReadPG25 Drift in Direct-to-Chip Loops: Where the Cold Plates Feel It
ASHRAE TC 9.9's May 2026 bulletin lists coolant composition first among the ways a direct-to-chip loop drifts. We ran six OpenFOAM conjugate heat transfer cases on a generic copper cold plate: at the same flow, PG35 needs 34.3% more pressure than PG25, while the loop temperature rise at the CDU moves only from 10.00 K to 10.26 K.
ReadHot-Aisle Containment: What CFD Shows That Rack Inlet Sensors Miss
A rack inlet sensor at mid-height can read 20 °C on every rack while 28.7 percent of the inlet area is above the 27 °C recommended limit. A small OpenFOAM study of one rack row, with and without hot-aisle containment, shows where the hot air gets in and why containment only helps once the airflow matches the racks.
ReadGrade A Under a LAF: Where Smoke Studies and CFD Each Fool You
An air speed check at the working position can look better with a hopper over the vials than with the table empty, while the vials get no first air at all. A small OpenFOAM study of a Grade A zone under a laminar airflow unit shows how a hopper or an operator's arm turns the flow over the critical zone, and what a smoke study and a CFD model can each tell you.
ReadWhy a Simulation Report Should Show Its Mesh Check on Page One
Most simulation reports bury the mesh check in an appendix, if they include it at all. I think it belongs on page one, beside the number the decision depends on. Here is why, and what that block should contain.
ReadAnnex 1 Clean-Up Period: Where a 20-Minute Pass Can Mislead
EU GMP Annex 1 sets a clean-up guidance of less than 20 minutes, but the result only holds where it is measured. A two-zone check on a generic Grade B room shows the main zone clearing in under 10 minutes while a poorly swept pocket takes 30.
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