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Welcome to the official Wiki for CFD-HOWL: Computational Fluid Dynamics High-Order Writer Library. This Wiki provides comprehensive documentation to help you get started with CFD-HOWL, including installation instructions, usage examples, and more.

For those interested in understanding the structure of the code and how different components interact, please refer to the Code Documentation page, which provides an overview of the core and support APIs.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Installation Guide
   • Using Docker
   • Manual Installation
3. Usage Examples
4. Integrating CFD-HOWL with Other CFD Solvers

Introduction

CFD-HOWL is a software library designed to efficiently write solution data generated by high-order CFD methods. These methods include Flux Reconstruction, Discontinuous Galerkin, and Spectral Difference, among others. The library addresses the limitations of traditional data storage techniques, ensuring compatibility with modern visualization tools such as ParaView and Tecplot.

CFD-HOWL can be used both as a standalone tool and integrated within other CFD platforms, providing users with the flexibility to use it according to their specific workflow.

Installation Guide

Using Docker

Docker provides an isolated environment to run CFD-HOWL without worrying about dependencies or system configuration. Refer to the Docker Installation Guide for detailed steps.

Manual Installation

If you prefer not to use Docker, you can install CFD-HOWL manually by following the instructions in the Manual Installation Guide.

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Note: If you encounter any issues during installation or usage, please visit our Troubleshooting page for solutions to common problems across both Docker and manual installations.

Usage Examples

CFD-HOWL is designed to enhance the way high-order CFD solutions are written by replacing traditional output writers. In our examples, we demonstrate how CFD-HOWL can be integrated with existing CFD solvers, including COOLFluiD and PyFR.

Example Workflow:

• Input Data: The input data files are generated by high-order CFD solvers. For example:
  • The CFmesh file, included in the examples, is an output from the COOLFluiD platform.
  • The .pyfrs solution file, used in another example, is generated by PyFR.
• Processing with CFD-HOWL: CFD-HOWL processes the input files (e.g., CFmesh, .pyfrs) to generate high-order CGNS files.
• Output (CGNS): The resulting .cgns files are optimized for accurate representation of high-order data in visualization tools such as ParaView and Tecplot.

We provide detailed instructions on how to run these examples, including the use of Docker, on the Usage Examples page.

Integrating CFD-HOWL with Other CFD Solvers

CFD-HOWL is designed to be solver-agnostic and adaptable to different CFD solvers with minimal changes. To integrate CFD-HOWL with a new solver, you only need to modify a few functions in the code to adapt it to the proprietary format used by your solver. Detailed instructions on how to do this can be found on the Integrating CFD-HOWL with Other CFD Solvers page.