Computational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory #1 Instructions

1. Basic Setup

The program that you will use for this lab is called CFX. It is a subsonic flow package which can solve for flows in various geometries using unstructured grids. The code solves the Navier-Stokes equations with specified initial and boundary conditions, until a steady state is reached. It can also solve for transient flows.
 

1.1 Setting up your account for use with CFX

The first thing you must do is log in to either m38 or m39 and type the following command in a UNIX shell window (started from Toolchest->Desktop->Open Unix Shell):

/local/cfx5/share/scripts/cfx5config

Hit enter to the two prompts when it asks for some information. The next step is to edit your .bash_profile file that resides in your home directory. Use emacs or vi to edit this file and add this as the last line in the file:

. .profile

Finally, save this file and then log out and log back in. You should now be able to start the online manual system by typing cfx5help, and start CFX by typing cfx5.

The online manual system is quite extensive, and offers pretty good explanations of how to use CFX. You should start out by going through a few of the example problems. I have been suggesting examples 1, 3, and 5.