Thermo-Kinetic Calculator
An open source project invented by Tobias Holzmann in 2014
Before asking why Tobias invented a »thermo-kinetic calculator« library, please read the context above. It is obvious that there are already open source projects available that handle thermo-kinetic calculations such as »Cantera« or «FlameMaster«. However, Tobias investigated the steady-state laminar flamelet model during his Master thesis in 2012. However, the bottleneck of the CRECK modeling groups library was, that the flamelet calculator was an already compiled binary file. Even though Tobias was working in the Robert Bosch AG and other people who were using ANSYS Fluent and FlameMaster or Cantera, he realized that the calculator from the CRECK modeling group was way much faster than the other software packages. Nevertheless, all did a great job, and the solution was almost the same.
Learning c++ only happens if one does a own complex project
As Tobias was very interested in implementing the flamelet model into OpenFOAM®, it was necessary to have a flamelet creator, which encloses the whole project. Otherwise, the OpenFOAM Foundation would not add the library to the main code as it is not-usable based on the missing flamelet creator application. Therefore, Tobias invented the so-called »Automatic Flamelet Creator« (AFC) library in 2014. As Tobias wanted to dive into c++ in more detail, he decided to start a completely new project, including new class structures, namespaces, and so on. He worked on the code until 2017 and wrote more than 30.000 lines during his spare time in Austria. However, the project was never finished, as other things got more valuable in his life. Thus, in 2018, the project stopped.
Re-inventing into the code in the year 2020
In 2020, Tobias joined the »Internal Combustion Engine« conference in Italy. Without having experience in that topic, Tobias realized that a lot of people use the flamelet approach due to the usage of a detailed chemistry mechanism. After the conference, Tobias re-investigated into his AFC code and saw that he did »not do a too lousy job« regarding programming. However, there were a few things that made the code more complex. These parts were removed and re-organized by Tobias early in 2020. The first changes were primarily simplifications to the existing classes. Since April 2020, the code is open-source on Github, and Tobias tries to work on the project whenever he has time for it. The project was renamed to »Thermo-Kinetic-Calculator« (TKC). Additionally, voluntary contributors are starting to be part of the project, which might lead to a rousing success.
The intention of the project is ...
... to build an easy to read c++ library that allows one to handle thermo-kinetic calculations using the already existing applications or integrate it into one's application quickly and without basic c++ knowledge. The libraries are built in a way that the interfaces of the main classes are easily accessible. After the code is finished someday, Tobias wants to construct the comprehensive OpenFOAM® library and solver concerning the steady-state laminar flamelet model. Based on the success of the project, Tobias' spare time and interest, as well as voluntary contributors, no-one can say in which direction this project will develop.
The library is still a playground for Tobias to improve his c++ knowledge. He knows about the other excellent projects. Thanks for reading, by the way, did you know that Tobias has a small and big motorcycle?
Git
Github URL: https://github.com/shor-ty/thermoKineticCalculator
Build by Tobias Holzmann
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