Download the tutorial from our GitHub tutorial repository.

 

Introduction

In this post, the coupling of an OpenFOAM (v 4.0) simulation and Dakota (v6.4) optimization software will be discussed. The optimization goal is to find the angle-of-attack (AoA) value that yields to the minimum drag coefficient of the airfoil. The case presented here is the RANS simulation of the flow around the NACA 5410 airfoil. This case is presented for tutorial purposes to establish the connection between the simulation I/O parameters (OpenFOAM) and the optimization I/O parameters (DAKOTA). In general, Dakota can be coupled with any simulation model regardless of the physics. Sometimes, the simulation model is referred to as the black box model, somewhat emphasizing the fact that Dakota is a flexible tool that can be used in various cases. We hope it will serve as an understanding point for OpenFOAM+DAKOTA coupling. For more information about Dakota, please check out our blog post.

Dakota (Design Analysis Kit for Optimization and Terascale Applications) is a very comprehensive open-source library for optimization, uncertainty quantification, sensitivity analysis and calibration purposes. The effort started in 1994 by Sandia National Laboratories based in New Mexico. Dakota is released under GNU Lesser General Public License.

As it is stated in it's manual Dakota is the first generic optimization software that is available for wide range of engineering applications. Thanks to it's rich content it can be coupled with any simulation software via scripting.  Check out our Dakota-OpenFOAM and Dakota-SU2 tutorials.

Below is a snippet used for an input file for DAKOTA for one of our tutorials coupling OpenFOAM and DAKOTA.