Using fvOptions in SedFOAM with turbinesFoam

[cgotelli]

Hello,

I would like to use SedFOAM to model sediment transport in a curved open channel and include turbines represented using the turbinesFoam package.

Since turbinesFoam applies actuator-line forces through fvOptions, I would like to confirm whether SedFOAM is fully compatible with fvOptions.
• Does SedFOAM support fvOptions in its current implementation?
• If yes, are there any recommendations or caveats when applying actuator-line forces, especially regarding which velocity field or phase should be targeted?
• If not fully compatible, are there known workarounds or patches to enable fvOptions in SedFOAM?

Any guidance or references would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!
Clemente Gotelli

[puigmontella]

Hi Clemente,

Short answer: yes, sedFoam is fully compatible with OpenFOAM’s fvOptions in its current implementation. That means you can introduce source terms like actuator-line forces. In fact, sedFoam applies fvOptions.correct() to the momentum equations of both phases.

I have never worked with turbinesFoam or actuator-line forces, but sometimes I use fvOptions to control the mean water velocity, for example in constant/fvOptions with a block such as:

meanVelocity1
{
type meanVelocityForce;
selectionMode all;
fields (U.b);
Ubar (1 0 0);
}

I guess you should apply the actuator-line force to the fluid phase velocity field, not the sediment phase. Then the turbine’s blades will exert forces on the water, and sedFoam will transfer momentum to the sediment through the drag coupling. In sedFoam, Ub denotes the fluid (water) phase velocity and Ua denotes the sediment phase velocity.

In general, I don’t think a workaround is required if you’re using a recent sedFoam version that already supports fvOptions. Just make sure to compile sedFoam and turbinesFoam with the same OpenFOAM version, load the turbinesFoam library so that the custom actuator-line fvOption is recognized, and you should be good to go.

I hope this helps, and good luck with your simulation!
Eduard