Getting Started

Table of Contents

• 1. When to Use This Section
• 2. First Simulation Entry
• 3. Recommended Read Order
• 4. Expected Outcomes After Completing This Path
• 5. Where to Go Next
  • CFD Reader Guidance and Practical Use
    • What To Extract Before Changing A Case
    • Practical CFD Troubleshooting Pattern

This index is the recommended onboarding path for new users. It is organized to minimize first-run failure risk: build first, then run a known working case, then inspect outputs. PICurv's YAML files are modular by design, so the goal is to learn how to reuse and mix profiles, not to create one giant per-run configuration from scratch.

1. When to Use This Section

Use this section if you are in one of these states:

• first time cloning PICurv,
• returning after dependency/toolchain changes,
• onboarding someone to the repository and needing a deterministic starting path.

2. First Simulation Entry

The canonical first-run page is:

• Tutorial: Your First Simulation (Flat Channel) complete walkthrough with artifact inspection and troubleshooting context.

3. Recommended Read Order

1. Installation Guide
2. Tutorial: Your First Simulation (Flat Channel)
3. Tutorial: Using a File-Based Grid (Bent Channel)
4. Tutorial: A Guide to Visualizing Your Results
5. The Conductor Script: picurv
6. Workflow Recipes and Config Cookbook

4. Expected Outcomes After Completing This Path

You should be able to:

• build bin/simulator and bin/postprocessor,
• generate valid runtime control artifacts from YAML inputs,
• execute run --solve --post-process locally,
• inspect VTK outputs in ParaView,
• recombine case.yml, solver.yml, monitor.yml, and post.yml intentionally,
• map first-run failures to corrective actions.

5. Where to Go Next

• Operational run authoring: User Guide
• Practical reusable config patterns: Workflow Recipes and Config Cookbook
• Direct grid generation and wrapped grid.mode: grid_gen: Grid Generator Guide: scripts/grid.gen
• Troubleshooting catalog: Common Fatal Errors and Fixes
• CI/smoke test contract: Testing and Validation Guide
• Cross-axis map view: Documentation Map

CFD Reader Guidance and Practical Use

This page describes Getting Started within the PICurv workflow. For CFD users, the most reliable reading strategy is to map the page content to a concrete run decision: what is configured, what runtime stage it influences, and which diagnostics should confirm expected behavior.

Treat this page as both a conceptual reference and a runbook. If you are debugging, pair the method/procedure described here with monitor output, generated runtime artifacts under runs/<run_id>/config, and the associated solver/post logs so numerical intent and implementation behavior stay aligned.

What To Extract Before Changing A Case

• Identify which YAML role or runtime stage this page governs.
• List the primary control knobs (tolerances, cadence, paths, selectors, or mode flags).
• Record expected success indicators (convergence trend, artifact presence, or stable derived metrics).
• Record failure signals that require rollback or parameter isolation.

Practical CFD Troubleshooting Pattern

1. Reproduce the issue on a tiny case or narrow timestep window.
2. Change one control at a time and keep all other roles/configs fixed.
3. Validate generated artifacts and logs after each change before scaling up.
4. If behavior remains inconsistent, compare against a known-good baseline example and re-check grid/BC consistency.