Butterfly

Butterfly is a plugin and a python library to create and run advanced computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations using OpenFOAM.

What is Butterfly?


Butterfly is a Grasshopper/Dynamo plugin and object-oriented python library that creates and runs computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using OpenFOAM. At the present time, OpenFOAM is the most rigorously-validated open source CFD engine in existence and is capable of running several advanced simulations and turbulence models (from simple RAS to intensive LES). Butterfly is built to quickly export geometry to OpenFOAM and run several common types of airflow simulations that are useful to building design. This includes outdoor simulations to model urban wind patterns, indoor buoyancy-driven simulations to model thermal comfort and ventilation effectiveness, and much more.


Indoor Airflow
Outdoor Airflow
Buoyancy
Indoor Comfort
Outdoor Comfort
HVAC System

Indoor Airflow

Simulate indoor wind-driven airflow to assess ventilation effectiveness.

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  • Outdoor Airflow

    Model outdoor wind patterns in urban settings.

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  • Buoyancy

    Model buoyancy-driven airflows from chimneys, atria and other common stack phenomena.

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  • Indoor Comfort

    Use Butterfly together with Ladybug and Honeybee to perform high resolution indoor thermal comfort analyses that account for local air temperature and speed.

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  • Outdoor Comfort

    Use Butterfly together with Ladybug and Honeybee to spatially map outdoor thermal comfort.

    See this paper for an example.

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  • HVAC

    Forecast HVAC-generated draft discomfort by simulating the air speeds and temperatures they create.

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