Support for Radial Basis Function (RBF) based mesh deformation
Functionality to add/problem to solve
Large mesh deformations on complex meshes require specilized methods to avoid mesh quality issues. It becomes challenging to control the mesh quality with existing displacement based mesh motion solvers for large deformations. In the OpenFOAM journal article [2] it was also mentioned that for large deformations advanced techniques could help. An extract form figure 12 caption: "These results highlight the need for advanced mesh motion techniques in OpenFOAM".
Target audience
All practical FSI cases with complex meshes. Mesh deformations with fine boundary layers.
Proposal
RBF morphing techniques have proven to be robust for large variety of problems among others [2]. One of the motion solver using RFB is available in an another library solids4Foam [3]. However, this implementation relies on external library and is not maintained anymore. If possible, would really benefit the community if this could be implemented in OpenFOAM directly.
What does success look like, and how can we measure that?
Ability to deform complex meshes with large deformations. A minimal example is provided here:flapDeformation.zip
Links / references
[1] OpenFOAM-preCICE: Coupling OpenFOAM with External Solvers for Multi-Physics Simulations. https://journal.openfoam.com/index.php/ofj/article/view/88
[2] CFD Methodology for Wind Turbines Fluid-Structure Interaction. https://theses.hal.science/tel-01562675
[3] https://github.com/solids4foam/solids4foam/tree/master/src/RBFMeshMotionSolver