OpenFOAM Real-Time Convergence Monitor App (MATLAB)

This MATLAB app provides a graphical interface to monitor and plot solver residuals, Courant numbers, and maximum temperature from a live OpenFOAM log file in real time.

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Features

• User-friendly GUI to select
  • log file path
  • fields to monitor (e.g. Ux, Uy, h, OH, CO2, O2)
  • number of recent time steps to display
  • auto‑reset interval
• Plots residuals for any user‑selected fields; always shows max temperature & Courant (mean / max).
• Automatic live updating while your simulation runs.
• Periodic self‑reset to keep MATLAB memory usage low.
• Works with serial or parallel OpenFOAM logs (standard format).

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How to Use

1  Prerequisites

Requirement	Version
MATLAB	R2020b or newer
OpenFOAM	tested with v2412 reactingFOAM with PIMPLE
---- Running simulation that writes a log file ----

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2  Prepare Your Log File

Redirect your solver output to a file accessible to MATLAB:

mpirun -np 12 reactingFoam -parallel     > "/path/to/your/log.reactingFoam" 2>&1

WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) users

If MATLAB cannot read a log stored inside your Linux home directory, redirect the log to a Windows‑visible path (e.g. on C:):

mpirun -np 12 reactingFoam -parallel     > "/mnt/c/Users/<WindowsUser>/Desktop/log.reactingFoam" 2>&1

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3  Run the MATLAB App

1. Download openFoamConvergenceMonitor.m.

2. In MATLAB, run

   openFoamConvergenceMonitor.m

3. In the GUI
   • Browse to your log file
   • Enter fields to monitor (comma‑separated)
   • Set PlotSteps and ResetInterval if desired
   • Click Start Monitoring

4. A maximized figure window opens and updates live.

5. Stop anytime by closing the plot window or pressing Ctrl + C in MATLAB.

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Tips

• PlotSteps → how many latest time steps are shown.
• ResetInterval → how many refresh cycles (each ≈20 s) before the monitor restarts to free memory.
• Works with any OpenFOAM solver log that prints residuals and Courant numbers in standard format.

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Example Log Snippet

DILUPBiCGStab:  Solving for Ux, Initial residual = 0.0142847, Final residual = 7.35e-08, No Iterations 2
DILUPBiCGStab:  Solving for h,  Initial residual = 2.16e-05, Final residual = 8.91e-08, No Iterations 1
...
min/max(T) = 293, 2563.0
Courant Number mean: 0.00983 max: 0.04324
Time = 0.0063605

The app extracts these diagnostics automatically and plots them.

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Credits

Developed by Sarvagya Sharma (IISc Bangalore) with interactive GUI refinements using OpenAI ChatGPT.