Could you give me your opinion about which is the best: develop a limited 1D or 2D personal program with a few options, or using a software contains many options like FLUENT, FLOW-3D, HEC-RAS or another one that gives a good interpretation of the results.
Hi Mohammed,
This is a very tricky question. Each of these approaches have their pros and cons and your choice really depends on your specific problem, the numerical method that you want to model with and your coding/CFD abilities.
Generally, CFD packages are relatively easier to work with. For some of these packages, you have a GUI (Graphical User Interface) where you just need to create a geometry, mesh it, update it by providing physical and numerical parameters and solve it. On the other hand, CFD packages have their limitations and for some complex physics, you may need to either write your own complementary functions or try to solve it using an in-house code. Moreover, you don't have a full control on solution algorithm where you may need to adjust a few things. It is often cumbersome to add new features to these commercial packages. Additionally, CFD packages might provide erroneous results where it is sometimes difficult to realize. If the solution diverges, it might also be a bit difficult to find where and why.
If you choose to solve your problem by writing an in-house code, you'd better be aware that it is usually a time-consuming and frustrating process to write, debug and validate your code. Prior to these, you also need to consider/select a numerical method, a solution algorithm and a good flexible data-structure. Your coding abilities must be in a dependable level to write a code. But it is normally easier to change the solution algorithm or add/remove features from it.
Now it is really up to you to choose one of these two approaches, but be aware that there is a third approach. You can use OPEN-SOURCE codes. They normally have a good data-structure, a validated numerical method and a robust numerical algorithm. Thus, you only need to focus on implementing your problem and solve it accurately. If you need to add another function to the solution algorithm, it is usually easier to implement. You may also have a better control on the solution algorithm. I can suggest some of these open-source codes like Openfoam, Gerris, Lammps, Liggghts, and SPHysics, ...
Hope this was a bit of help.
Kind Regards,
Amin
Completely agree with Amin Rahmat
Write your own program if you want to be a real specialist in CFD. It takes many years.
Or just use certified software if you would need to solve some engineering work for a company.
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