In the same vein as the current community challenge going on I’m wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a free software capable of modeling fluid dynamics into a flat surface (plane of water).
Specifically, I’d like to be able to independently stipulate the count, geometry, mass, and velocity of falling objects into water… the goal would try and texture wood surfaces similar to this:
You can do this directly in Fusion360, among others, for a lot of functions.
Fusion doesn’t allow general functions on two variables to describe a surface (f(x,y) form), not does it provide for parametric surfaces (R(u,v) form), but it is surprising how complex a surface can be modelled with nothing but sweeps and rotations.
The one you linked to is similar to a rotation of a function of the form f(t)=e(-t)cos(t) around the t=0 axis.
If you want more general forms, Mathematica, Mathcad, and the like will provide pointclouds or, more recently, stl files of parametric surfaces. These can be processed with Fusion360 or MeshCam for machining advantages to each: MeshCam is easier, Fusion360 will give more toolpath options to make it look nicer)
There are other options, as well.
@enl_public Thanks I think i was looking for something a little less left-brained and little more easy for trial and error, ability to place obstacles, different kinds of waveforms, etc… without going back to HS Geometry class. I ended up finding this ripple tank generator online and converting the output to an STL.
https://www.falstad.com/ripple/ worked wonderfully.
Nice find. How are you generating the STL?
I’m in the process of my entry into that competition. I created a water ‘ripple’ in Vectric Aspire (I know you’re looking for a free software - hear me out)
If you have a generator for a waveform, you could either export it as an svg or DXF from the generator, or just save as JPG, import into Fusion360, then trace the waveform, once traced you can do a revolve and turn that into a model.
I didn’t do a mathematical waveform, but did trace a wave that I downloaded off google images and used that in Aspire to do the revolve
and you can convert an STL to something you can feed carbide create pro pretty easy 
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