Using Salome to create input for Kratos

[philbucher]

Hi,
I was asked to document in an issue how I create input for Kratos using the open-source preprocessor SALOME.

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Just to clarify right away to avoid misunderstandings:
I do by no means intend to replace GiD as main interface for Kratos. This interface has been developed for years and provides way more options to create input for Kratos.
I simply want to share the work that I did using Salome to create input for Kratos.

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The whole idea of using Salome started ~ 3 years ago with @msandre who created the first Model using Salome (Fluid Mesh for simulating the Wind flow over the olympic stadium roof in Munich, ~5M Elements)

Current Situation
I took over the basic converter of @msandre and generalized it, it can be found in my Github profile. It also has some examples and explanations on how to use it.
This is the current working version (as of today) and has been successfully used by me and multiple colleagues for many different 2D/3D, small and large (>10M Elements) cases.

Outlook
I am also currently working on a direct integration of Kratos in Salome by using a python-plugin. This has not been released yet, as it is still a work in progress. but hopefully I will be able to finish it soon.
To get an idea how it works, have a look at what the Elmer developers are doing here, it is pretty much the same (there is also a small video that illustrates the idea).
I will announce here when it is ready.

Here is a screenshot of a very early version done by some students of mine:

Together with the already existing Vtk-output for Paraview one can have a fully open-source workflow with Kratos.

FYI @RiccardoRossi @thelfer @loumalouomega

[philbucher]

closing this, now we have the first release of the Kratos Salome Plugin