# FoamWin — OpenFOAM 14 for Windows

> A community native Windows x64 port of Foundation OpenFOAM 14. MinGW-w64 build,
> PowerShell launcher, guided installer, optional Microsoft MPI, cfMesh and four
> graph partitioners. No MSYS2, no WSL, no Bash at runtime.

- Site: https://dhanninacs.github.io/foamWin/
- Source: https://github.com/dhanninacs/foamWin
- Releases: https://github.com/dhanninacs/foamWin/releases
- Changelog: https://github.com/dhanninacs/foamWin/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md
- Windows usage: https://github.com/dhanninacs/foamWin/blob/main/packaging/WINDOWS-README.md
- Application attachment guide: https://github.com/dhanninacs/foamWin/blob/main/docs/NATIVE-ENGINE.md
- Porting notes: https://github.com/dhanninacs/foamWin/blob/main/PORTING-NOTES.md

## What it is

FoamWin is Foundation OpenFOAM 14 cross-compiled with MinGW-w64 GCC onto a native
Windows operating-system layer derived from blueCFD. It ships ordinary Windows
executables and DLLs. Executable names, package filenames and the OpenFOAM
namespace are unchanged, so existing tutorials and dictionaries work as written.

Building from source requires a case-sensitive Linux filesystem and a MinGW-w64
cross toolchain. Running the result does not require Linux, MSYS2, WSL or Bash.

## Current release

v14.0.0-win.5 — 31 October 2026. Adds Scotch/METIS partitioners for decomposePar,
PT-Scotch and Zoltan for parallel redistribution under Microsoft MPI, and cfMesh
(cartesianMesh, tetMesh, pMesh, cartesian2DMesh, generateBoundaryLayers,
improveMeshQuality) with OpenMP support.

Distribution files retain their tested OpenFOAM package names:

- OF14-win-setup.exe — guided installer with shortcuts and uninstaller (86 MB)
- OF14-win.zip — portable distribution with a PowerShell install option (131 MB)
- SHA256SUMS.txt — checksums for both

## Requirements and limits

- 64-bit Windows, double precision, 32-bit labels.
- Microsoft MPI is optional: serial works without it, local parallel requires it.
- ParaView is not bundled; open the generated `cavity.foam` in a separate install.
- Runtime code compilation needs additional compiler configuration.
- Docker/multi-host MPI operation and performance scaling are not validated.

## Validation

176 executables pass `-help` on Windows; the legacy icoFoam cavity runs to 0.5 s
with `Mesh OK`; the modern incompressibleFluid cavity runs under `foamRun` to
time 10; decomposition, redistribution, cfMesh meshing with boundary layers,
installer/shortcut execution, paths containing spaces and VTK export are all
exercised. These are smoke and execution tests, not physical benchmarks.

## Related

- Stokes — a desktop CFD workbench for OpenFOAM 14 that drives this engine:
  https://dhanninacs.github.io/stokes-cfd/
- Stokes source: https://github.com/dhanninacs/stokes-cfd

## Licence

GPLv3, retaining OpenFOAM Foundation and blueCFD/blueCAPE upstream attribution.
OPENFOAM® is a registered trade mark of OpenCFD Limited. FoamWin is an
independent community port, not an official OpenFOAM distribution, and is not
approved or endorsed by OpenCFD Limited or the OpenFOAM Foundation.