beamWeldFoam_1.1

In this release we have added an additional validation case: the "Tan Case" that simulates a Marangoni driven flow with state transition. The development of this case also allowed us to tweak the implementation of the Darcy source term to ensure that the solid/gas interface does not get smeared through MULES.

We've also improved the code and tutorial structure to reflect high level openFoam practices, and improved the formatting of the code for readability.

Furthermore the compile flags have been generalised to allow easier compilation on Macs.

There are now 3 examples pertaining to Powder bed fusion processes as was requested from people already using the code. We hope these examples show how to set the cases up for your own simulations.

Enjoy!

beamWeldFoam 1.0

Initial release of beamWeldFoam. An OpenFOAM solver for looking at fusion and vapourisation state transitions.

High energy density advanced manufacturing processes, such as power beam welding and additive manufacturing, are notoriously difficult to simulate. Such processes initiate fusion, and vapourisation, state transitions in their respective (normally metallic) substrates generating complex metallic flows over incredibly short time scales. To mathematically model such processes, equations describing the conservation of momentum, conservation of energy, and an equation that describes the evolution of the metallic substrate interface must be considered.
In this work, we present beamWeldFoam, an OpenFOAM solver capable of simulating these high energy density advanced manufacturing processes. In beamWeldFoam, the metallic substrate, and shielding gas phase, are treated as incompressible. The volumetric dilation due to the vapourisation state transition is neglected, instead, a phenomenological recoil pressure term is used to capture the contribution to the momentum and energy fields due to vaporisation events.