Advanced Conjugate Heat Transfer Simulations in OpenFOAM

Master conduction, convection, radiation, and multi-region thermal simulations for both incompressible and compressible

What you’ll learn
Understand the fundamentals of heat transfer and buoyancy-driven flows, including conduction, convection, and radiation.
Set up and solve temperature diffusion problems in OpenFOAM using laplacianFoam.
Simulate buoyant incompressible flows using the Boussinesq approximation and analyze temperature-driven vortex structures.
Configure and run compressible buoyant flow simulations using buoyantPimpleFoam, accounting for density variations and full energy equations.
Implement radiation modeling using finite volume discrete ordinates method (fvDOM) and assess its effect on temperature and flow fields.
Perform conjugate heat transfer (CHT) simulations, coupling solids and fluids with accurate multi-region mesh setups.
Apply source terms such as heat fluxes, pressure gradients, and custom energy inputs using FVOptions in single and multi-region simulations.
Improve numerical accuracy by selecting and modifying discretization schemes (fvSchemes) for energy, momentum, and pressure equations.
Use the Finite Area (FA) method to efficiently model thin surfaces and thermal shells without excessive meshing.
Visualize, interpret, and analyze simulation results, including temperature gradients, flow patterns, and radiation effects.
Reproduce provided case files and lecture examples independently, and adapt them for custom thermal simulation projects.
Apply best practices in OpenFOAM workflow management, including folder organization, solver configuration, and mesh preparation.

Requirements
Basic understanding of fluid mechanics and heat transfer concepts (conduction, convection, radiation).
Familiarity with computational simulations or basic CFD concepts is recommended but not mandatory.
Basic knowledge of Linux or Windows command line operations for running OpenFOAM.
OpenFOAM installed on your system (installation guidance may be provided).
Familiarity with text editing and file management (editing dictionaries, configuration files).
A willingness to learn hands-on simulation workflows and follow step-by-step instructions.

Description
This comprehensive course is designed to take you from fundamental heat transfer principles to advanced thermal and buoyancy-driven flow simulations in OpenFOAM. Through carefully structured, hands-on lectures, you will learn to model and solve a wide range of thermal problems, covering conduction, convection, radiation, and conjugate heat transfer (CHT) across both fluid and solid regions.The course begins with foundational concepts such as heat conduction using the laplacianFoam solver, introducing the governing equations, boundary conditions, and diffusion properties. From there, you will progress to buoyancy-driven flows, learning to simulate temperature-induced density variations in incompressible fluids using the Boussinesq approximation, and eventually tackling fully compressible buoyant flows with buoyantPimpleFoam.You will gain in-depth knowledge of:Setting up multi-region meshes and defining solid and fluid regions for CHT simulations.Configuring boundary conditions, solver parameters, and thermophysical properties for both incompressible and compressible solvers.Incorporating radiation effects using the finite volume discrete ordinates method (fvDOM) and gray diffusive boundary conditions.Implementing source terms such as heat fluxes, pressure gradients, and custom energy inputs using FVOptions.Improving solution accuracy by selecting appropriate discretization schemes (fvSchemes) and understanding their impact on pressure, velocity, and temperature fields.Applying the Finite Area (FA) method to efficiently model thin surfaces and thermal shells without excessive meshing.Visualizing, analyzing, and interpreting simulation results including temperature gradients, vortex shedding, and radiation effects using OpenFOAM-compatible tools.This course is highly practical: all lecture notes, step-by-step instructions, and OpenFOAM case files used in demonstrations will be provided, allowing you to reproduce every simulation on your own and use them as templates for future projects.By the end of this course, you will be fully capable of setting up, running, and analyzing advanced heat transfer and buoyant flow simulations, optimizing solver settings, handling multi-region and coupled problems, and applying best practices in OpenFOAM for both research and engineering applications.

Who this course is for
Engineers and researchers looking to enhance their skills in thermal and buoyancy-driven flow simulations.
CFD practitioners who want to gain hands-on experience with OpenFOAM for heat transfer and multiphysics problems.
Students in mechanical, aerospace, chemical, or civil engineering seeking practical knowledge of conduction, convection, radiation, and conjugate heat transfer.
Professionals working on thermal management, HVAC, energy systems, or fluid-structure interaction who want to apply OpenFOAM simulations in real-world projects.
Learners interested in advanced numerical methods, including multi-region simulations, source terms, and the Finite Area (FA) method.
Anyone willing to learn step-by-step OpenFOAM workflows and apply them to reproduce and customize simulation case files.

www.udemy.com/course/conjugate-heat-transfer-openfoam/