Installation

beamFoam is built from source against an existing OpenFOAM.com installation. The repository's build script currently recognises OpenFOAM versions v2106 through v2506, at six-month release intervals. OpenFOAM v2306 is the principal tested version described in the beamFoam paper.

Prerequisites

• A supported OpenFOAM.com installation
• Git and a C++ build environment suitable for OpenFOAM
• Eigen, which is provided under ThirdParty/ and built by the top-level script when required

Source the OpenFOAM environment before installing beamFoam. For example:

> source /path/to/OpenFOAM-v2306/etc/bashrc

Confirm that the environment is active:

> echo $WM_PROJECT_VERSION
> which wmake

Download and Build

A convenient location is beside the OpenFOAM run directory:

> mkdir -p $FOAM_RUN
> cd $FOAM_RUN/..
> git clone https://github.com/solids4foam/beamFoam.git
> cd beamFoam
> ./Allwclean
> ./Allwmake

The top-level build script builds the Eigen dependency, beam model library, beamFoam solver, utilities and helper scripts. It reports a build error if errors are found in the generated build logs.

Verify the Installation

After a successful build, verify that the main applications are available:

> which beamFoam
> which createBeamMesh
> which setInitialPositionBeam

Run one of the supplied cases to verify the complete workflow:

> cd tutorials/cantilever
> ./Allclean
> ./Allrun

See the tutorial guide for the featured validation cases and post-processing instructions.

Cleaning and Rebuilding

To remove generated build products and rebuild:

> cd $FOAM_RUN/../beamFoam
> ./Allwclean
> ./Allwmake

When changing OpenFOAM versions, clean beamFoam before rebuilding it in the new environment.