fluidsim

# FluidSim

## Routing Boundary

Use this skill only for FluidSim or explicit CFD workflows such as Navier-Stokes, turbulence, shallow-water, stratified-flow, or pseudospectral fluid simulations. Do not use it for CSS fluid layouts, responsive design, generic Python simulation, generic PDE solving, or non-FluidSim numerical physics work.

## Overview

FluidSim is an object-oriented Python framework for high-performance computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. It provides solvers for periodic-domain equations using pseudospectral methods with FFT, delivering performance comparable to Fortran/C++ while maintaining Python's ease of use.

**Key strengths**:
- Multiple solvers: 2D/3D Navier-Stokes, shallow water, stratified flows
- High performance: Pythran/Transonic compilation, MPI parallelization
- Complete workflow: Parameter configuration, simulation execution, output analysis
- Interactive analysis: Python-based post-processing and visualization

## Core Capabilities

### 1. Installation and Setup

Install fluidsim using uv with appropriate feature flags:

```bash
# Basic installation
uv uv pip install fluidsim

# With FFT support (required for most solvers)
uv uv pip install "fluidsim[fft]"

# With MPI for parallel computing
uv uv pip install "fluidsim[fft,mpi]"
```

Set environment variables for output directories (optional):

```bash
export FLUIDSIM_PATH=/path/to/simulation/outputs
export FLUIDDYN_PATH_SCRATCH=/path/to/working/directory
```

No API keys or authentication required.

See `references/installation.md` for complete installation instructions and environment configuration.

### 2. Running Simulations

Standard workflow consists of five steps:

**Step 1**: Import solver
```python
from fluidsim.solvers.ns2d.solver import Simul
```

**Step 2**: Create and configure parameters
```python
params = Simul.create_default_params()
params.oper.nx = params.oper.ny = 256
params.oper.Lx = params.oper.Ly = 2 * 3.14159
params.nu_2 = 1e-3
params.time_stepping.t_end = 10.0
params.init_fields.type = "noise"
```

**Step 3**: Instantiate simulation
```python
sim = Simul(params)
```

**Step 4**: Execute
```python
sim.time_stepping.start()
```

**Step 5**: Analyze results
```python
sim.output.phys_fields.plot("vorticity")
sim.output.spatial_means.plot()
```

See `references/simulation_workflow.md` for complete examples, restarting simulations, and cluster deployment.

### 3. Available Solvers

Choose solver based on physical problem:

**2D Navier-Stokes** (`ns2d`): 2D turbulence, vortex dynamics
```python
from fluidsim.solvers.ns2d.solver import Simul
```

**3D Navier-Stokes** (`ns3d`): 3D turbulence, realistic flows
```python
from fluidsim.solvers.ns3d.solver import Simul
```

**Stratified flows** (`ns2d.strat`, `ns3d.strat`): Oceanic/atmospheric flows
```python
from fluidsim.solvers.ns2d.strat.solver import Simul
params.N = 1.0  # Brunt-Väisälä frequency
```

**Shallow water** (`sw1l`): Geophysical flows, rotating systems
```python
from fluidsim.solvers.sw1l.solver import Simul
params.f = 1.0  # Coriolis parameter
```

See `references/solvers.md` for complete solver list and selection guidance.

### 4. Parameter Configuration

Parameters are organized hierarchically and accessed via dot notation:

**Domain and resolution**:
```python
params.oper.nx = 256  # grid points
params.oper.Lx = 2 * pi  # domain size
```

**Physical parameters**:
```python
params.nu_2 = 1e-3  # viscosity
params.nu_4 = 0     # hyperviscosity (optional)
```

**Time stepping**:
```python
params.time_stepping.t_end = 10.0
params.time_stepping.USE_CFL = True  # adaptive time step
params.time_stepping.CFL = 0.5
```

**Initial conditions**:
```python
params.init_fields.type = "noise"  # or "dipole", "vortex", "from_file", "in_script"
```

**Output settings**:
```python
params.output.periods_save.phys_fields = 1.0  # save every 1.0 time units
params.output.periods_save.spectra = 0.5
params.output.periods_save.spatial_means = 0.1
```

The Parameters object raises `AttributeError` for typos, preventing silent configuration errors.

See `references/parameters.md` for comprehensive parameter documentation.

### 5. Output and Analysis

FluidSim produces multiple output types automatically saved during simulation:

**Physical fields**: Velocity, vorticity in HDF5 format
```python
sim.output.phys_fields.plot("vorticity")
sim.output.phys_fields.plot("vx")
```

**Spatial means**: Time series of volume-averaged quantities
```python
sim.output.spatial_means.plot()
```

**Spectra**: Energy and enstrophy spectra
```python
sim.output.spectra.plot1d()
sim.output.spectra.plot2d()
```

**Load previous simulations**:
```python
from fluidsim import load_sim_for_plot
sim = load_sim_for_plot("simulation_dir")
sim.output.phys_fields.plot()
```

**Advanced visualization**: Open `.h5` files in ParaView or VisIt for 3D visualization.

See `references/output_analysis.md` for detailed analysis workflows, parametric study analysis, and data export.

### 6. Advanced Features

**Custom forcing**: Maintain turbulence or drive specific dynamics
```python
params.forcing.enable = True
params.forcing.type = "tcrandom"  # time-correlated random forcing
params.forcing.forcing_rate = 1.0
```

**Custom initial conditions**: Define fields in script
```python
params.init_fields.type = "in_script"
sim = Simul(params)
X, Y = sim.oper.get_XY_loc()
vx = sim.state.state_phys.get_var("vx")
vx[:] = sin(X) * cos(Y)
sim.time_stepping.start()
```

**MPI parallelization**: Run on multiple processors
```bash
mpirun -np 8 python simulation_script.py
```

**Parametric studies**: Run multiple simulations with different parameters
```python
for nu in [1e-3, 5e-4, 1e-4]:
    params = Simul.create_default_params()
    params.nu_2 = nu
    params.output.sub_directory = f"nu{nu}"
    sim = Simul(params)
    sim.time_stepping.start()
```

See `references/advanced_features.md` for forcing types, custom solvers, cluster submission, and performance optimization.

## Common Use Cases