Software Engineering & Workflow

Simulation software is not simply "writing equations into code." This section covers: how I understand existing software, how I design custom code architecture, and how complete computational workflows are built.

1. Software Survey & Understanding

Before writing any custom code, understand: what others have already achieved, what are mature engineering capabilities, what are gaps, what is "needed but existing tools don't do well enough."

• 1.1 Commercial CAE / CFD Software Abaqus / Ansys / LS-DYNA / Nastran / Radioss / HyperMesh, each specialized in: nonlinear structures, multiphysics coupling, impact/collision, optimization, preprocessing, etc.
• 1.2 Open Source Ecosystem OpenFOAM / SU2 / Code_Saturne / CalculiX / Code_Aster, suitable as "engineering tools," "research platforms," or "architecture references."
• 1.3 Scope Definition Defining boundaries: focus on CFD solvers and engine-related applications, not trying to cover all CAE domains.

2. Architecture Design

• 2.1 Modular Design Separating physics, numerics, and I/O for maintainability and extensibility.
• 2.2 Data Structures Efficient data structures for meshes, sparse matrices, solution fields.
• 2.3 Abstraction Layers Abstract interfaces for different discretization methods and solvers.

3. Coding Standards & Testing

• 3.1 Code Style Consistent naming, formatting, documentation standards.
• 3.2 Testing Unit tests, integration tests, regression tests for numerical methods.
• 3.3 Code Review Peer review processes, automated checks.

4. Complete Workflow

• 4.1 Preprocessing Mesh generation, boundary condition setup, case configuration.
• 4.2 Solving Solver execution, monitoring, checkpointing.
• 4.3 Postprocessing Result visualization, data analysis, reporting.
• 4.4 HPC Integration Job scheduling, resource management, workflow automation.

5. My Practice

Currently working on:

• Designing modular CFD solver architectures for maintainability.
• Building complete workflows from preprocessing to postprocessing.
• Integrating custom solvers with HPC job systems.

Architecture decisions and workflow details will be documented in projects and technical notes.