Comparison of OpenFOAM and EllipSys3D for neutral atmospheric flow over complex terrain

Cavar, Dalibor; Réthoré, Pierre-Elouan; Bechmann, Andreas; Sørensen, Niels N.; Martinez, Benjamin; Zahle, Frederik; Berg, Jacob; Kelly, Mark C.

doi:10.5194/wes-1-55-2016

Articles | Volume 1, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-1-55-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-1-55-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 1, issue 1

Research article

|

20 May 2016

Research article |

| 20 May 2016

Comparison of OpenFOAM and EllipSys3D for neutral atmospheric flow over complex terrain

Dalibor Cavar, Pierre-Elouan Réthoré, Andreas Bechmann, Niels N. Sørensen, Benjamin Martinez, Frederik Zahle, Jacob Berg, and Mark C. Kelly

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Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Mar 2016	80	28	1	109
Apr 2016	65	20	1	86
May 2016	61	32	1	94
Jun 2016	72	11	1	84
Jul 2016	19	4	0	23
Aug 2016	15	7	1	23
Sep 2016	8	9	2	19
Oct 2016	12	9	1	22
Nov 2016	2	9	0	11
Dec 2016	5	9	2	16
Jan 2017	6	13	0	19
Feb 2017	8	12	1	21
Mar 2017	18	33	3	54
Apr 2017	14	12	2	28
May 2017	20	30	4	54
Jun 2017	12	29	8	49
Jul 2017	3	24	1	28
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Sep 2017	11	30	2	43
Oct 2017	5	37	0	42
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Dec 2017	8	43	0	51
Jan 2018	14	33	1	48
Feb 2018	17	25	3	45
Mar 2018	13	35	2	50
Apr 2018	9	22	1	32
May 2018	11	25	2	38
Jun 2018	11	22	2	35
Jul 2018	13	20	3	36
Aug 2018	9	23	1	33
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Oct 2018	15	23	2	40
Nov 2018	26	34	1	61
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Jan 2019	12	22	0	34
Feb 2019	19	12	1	32
Mar 2019	14	25	2	41
Apr 2019	6	30	0	36
May 2019	11	25	0	36
Jun 2019	12	28	1	41
Jul 2019	6	26	3	35
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Nov 2019	14	23	0	37
Dec 2019	10	15	0	25
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Feb 2020	23	12	0	35
Mar 2020	23	16	1	40
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Apr 2021	12	13	0	25
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Nov 2021	15	37	3	55
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Nov 2022	13	24	0	37
Dec 2022	9	18	0	27
Jan 2023	10	21	0	31
Feb 2023	7	10	1	18
Mar 2023	17	22	2	41
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Feb 2024	2	10	0	12
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Jun 2024	21	8	3	32
Jul 2024	12	16	6	34
Aug 2024	13	9	3	25
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Jan 2025	12	8	0	20
Feb 2025	15	9	1	25
Mar 2025	14	11	0	25
Apr 2025	14	35	0	49
May 2025	20	13	1	34
Jun 2025	34	28	3	65
Jul 2025	15	17	1	33
Aug 2025	19	23	2	44
Sep 2025	32	11	5	48
Oct 2025	29	28	2	59
Nov 2025	28	26	2	56

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 10 Mar 2016)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Mar 2016	80	28	1	109
Apr 2016	65	20	1	86
May 2016	61	32	1	94
Jun 2016	72	11	1	84
Jul 2016	19	4	0	23
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Sep 2016	8	9	2	19
Oct 2016	12	9	1	22
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Dec 2016	5	9	2	16
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Feb 2017	8	12	1	21
Mar 2017	18	33	3	54
Apr 2017	14	12	2	28
May 2017	20	30	4	54
Jun 2017	12	29	8	49
Jul 2017	3	24	1	28
Aug 2017	13	26	7	46
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Oct 2017	5	37	0	42
Nov 2017	12	38	2	52
Dec 2017	8	43	0	51
Jan 2018	14	33	1	48
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Nov 2022	13	24	0	37
Dec 2022	9	18	0	27
Jan 2023	10	21	0	31
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Mar 2023	17	22	2	41
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Jun 2023	5	11	0	16
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Dec 2023	18	13	2	33
Jan 2024	5	11	0	16
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Mar 2024	5	12	0	17
Apr 2024	12	11	1	24
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Jun 2024	21	8	3	32
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Oct 2024	15	8	1	24
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Dec 2024	16	8	3	27
Jan 2025	12	8	0	20
Feb 2025	15	9	1	25
Mar 2025	14	11	0	25
Apr 2025	14	35	0	49
May 2025	20	13	1	34
Jun 2025	34	28	3	65
Jul 2025	15	17	1	33
Aug 2025	19	23	2	44
Sep 2025	32	11	5	48
Oct 2025	29	28	2	59
Nov 2025	28	26	2	56

Latest update: 25 Nov 2025

Short summary

Feasibility of a freely available CFD tool, OpenFOAM, in calculating flows of general relevance to the wind industry is investigated by comparing several aspects of its performance to a well-established in-house EllipSys3D solver. The comparison is focused on CFD solver demands regarding grid generation process and computational time. The quality and accuracy of the achieved results are investigated by conducting the computations using identical/similar solver parameters and numerical setups..