[cduchat]

Hi,

I have a case for which I would like to optimize the shape of a volute-like channel, but without modifying the shape of the zone that feeds it.

Is there a way to do that?


More details below for those who have time to read...

Basically the system is a spinning drum partially filled with water, and the volute-like channel scoops some of the water out, so the whole thing is quite similar to a Pitot pump for which I would like to optimize the Pitot scoop outer shape and inner channel but without changing the drum/housing itself.

Normally it would make sense to cut the drum out of the study and apply a mapped patch, but it is impossible here since for various reasons the shape of the scoop and channel does strongly impact the flow conditions inside the drum.

So what I am trying to do now is to have adjointShapeOptimizationFoam behave like simpleFoam in the drum zone of the domain, and perform the shape optimization only inside the channel and in the vicinity of the volute/Pitot scoop.

Using topoSet I have successfully created a cellSet "f0" (and its corresponding cellZone "drum"). Using a scalarFixedValueConstraint in fvOptions I tried to fix to zero the value of "alpha" inside this part of the domain (no error message, so the syntax is correct, but a warning on the second iteration, sometimes repeated for a few more iterations stating that the constraint is not applied due to the field "alpha" being "never used"). This approach didn't help as the "alpha" values kept being different from the constrained value of zero in the "drum" zone (or in the "f0" set: I have tried both) looking into the source code it appears that alpha is not really an input but rather an output of adjointShapeOtimizationFoam determined from U and Ua (file createFields.H in the sources of the solver).

The case as it currently is set up runs and converges really fine, the mesh is good, everything is okay, except for this shape optimization that I need to somehow turn off in the "drum" part of the domain.

Any idea as to how to proceed?

Christophe

PS: I use BlueCFD core 2017 (openFOAM v5 compiled and slightly tweaked for Windows).

Here is the fvOptions constraint

fixedAlpha
{
    type            scalarFixedValueConstraint;
    active          yes;
    selectionMode   cellSet; //cellZone
    cellSet         f0;
    //cellZone        drum;
    fieldValues     { alpha 0.0;}
}

And the warning message that I get on one to ten iterations at the beginning (and then no more warning for the rest of the run).

--> FOAM Warning : 
    From function virtual void Foam::fv::option::checkApplied() const
    in file cfdTools/general/fvOptions/fvOption.C at line 125
    Source fixedAlpha defined for field alpha but never used

And here is the part of the source code from "createFields.H" corresponding to the creation of the field "alpha"

volScalarField alpha
(
    IOobject
    (
        "alpha",
        runTime.timeName(),
        mesh,
        IOobject::READ_IF_PRESENT,
        IOobject::AUTO_WRITE
    ),
    lambda*max(Ua & U, zeroSensitivity)
);