What is a comparison of the major CFD software

packages?
quora.com/What-is-a-comparison-of-the-major-CFD-software-packages

The original post shown below briefly describes the basic categories of CFD software
packages and some of the leading packages in each category. Due to many requests, we’re
back in 2018 with a series of articles going into the nitty-gritty details on the pros, cons,
capabilities and costs of many of the market leading CFD packages in each category.

At the same time, we’re updating our CFD User Survey results. If you are a CFD software user,
consider participating in our CFD User Survey. Not only will you ensure that your voice is
heard, but you’ll also receive detailed survey results that won’t be available on our website.
Plus, you’ll be entered in a drawing for a $50 Amazon Gift Certificate.

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updates.

Part 1: CAD Embedded CFD Software Packages - Featuring SolidWorks Flow Simulation,
Autodesk CFD, ANSYS Discovery Live and more.

Part 2: Open-Source CFD Software Packages - Featuring OpenFOAM COMING SOON

Part 3: Semi-Comprehensive and Specialty CFD Software Packages - Featuring COMSOL

CFD, CONVERGE CFD, NUMECA OMNIS and more. COMING SOON

Part 4: Comprehensive CFD Software Packages - Featuring Siemens Simcenter and ANSYS
Fluent COMING SOON

Part 5: CFD Software Rankings and CFD User Survey Results COMING SOON

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The website CFD-Online lists over 200 CFD related software packages, with new packages
coming online monthly claiming capability and performance improvements over
established packages. Such a variety can be a little overwhelming for those who are trying
to identify which is the right tool for the job.

While there have been a number of academic papers attempting quantitative comparisons
of results obtained from competing software packages, more pragmatic comparisons
between major packages in terms of ownership costs, usability and performance are
needed. Hopefully this review, based on our 15 years of experience working with most of
the vendors discussed herein, will help fill this void.

CFD software packages fall into one of the following five broad categories, more-or-less;

Open Source: Open-source software is provided under a software license that permits
users to study, change, and improve the software. Such a license structure generally
ensure that the software remains free of cost and retains a wide audience and developer
base.

The most widely used general purpose open-source CFD software package is known as
OpenFOAM. While the official OpenFOAM release is maintained by the OpenFOAM
Foundation, a few splinter cell groups have broken off with code variations in order to
commercialize some aspect of their additions to the code, typically through consulting. The
major flavors include blueCFD-core and openFOAM+. There is a big dropoff in usage to
other free codes such as Stanford University’s SU2 and the Lattice-Boltzmann solver
Palabos.

The lead arguments for the adoption of open-source are the following. It is freely licensed,
making it increasingly cost effective as your demand increases. If it is a widely distributed
code it will be reliable and accurate as a result of being scrutinized and improved by a large
group of diverse developers all motivated to ensure that the code performs well. In
addition, if a user has the skill and desire they can add functionality through additional
coding. The major arguments against open-source are the limited user-support, increased
cost of ownership relating to reduced usability, the lack of specialized capabilities, and the
requirement of additional software, such as pre- and post-processors.

Open Source wrappers: In order to make open-source more user friendly developers have
wrapped codes such as Open-FOAM into more user friendly GUI environments bundled
with additional software such as pre- and post-processors. Examples are Visual-CFD,
Caedium, HELYX and simFlow. An interesting recent twist on this concept is that of web
browser based simulation, as provided, for example, by SimScale. Wrappers do provide the
convenience of a single interface, but suffer from the fact that the platform is an additional
level of separation between the user and the execution code. The obvious arguments for
adopting a wrapper platform is that they can provide some of the convenience of a full-
service commercial platform with a much lower price. The arguments against wrapper
platforms are that they don’t overcome some of the key limitations of open-source, i.e.
limited user-support and lack of specialized capabilities, while adding another level of
software with its own potential for bugs and which may be poorly supported and developed
in its own right.
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CAD integrated: The most widely used CFD platforms are the SolidWorks and Autodesk
Inventor CFD add-ons integrated within those native 3-D solid modeling platforms. This
type of CFD package is marketed to product designers who are primarily seeking to solve
steady-state, single-phase, non-reacting flow problems and with a focus on ease of use.
These packages typically include native meshing and post-processing tools. Conjugate
heat transfer, fluid-structure interactions, chemical reactions, multiphase flows and other
high-end capabilities are typically out of reach for these packages.

Specialty: Meanwhile, there are many codes that are targeted to niche markets with
specialized functionality. CONVERGE is a multipurpose code with a high level of
sophistication with regards to moving meshes, multiphase flows and turbulent combustion
as needed for their focus on the automotive, internal combustion market segment. Other
heavily targeted platforms include the FloTHERM suite targeting the electronics industry,
FINE/Marine for marine applications, 6Sigma for data center ventilation, EXA for external
aerodynamics, XFlowCFD for Lattice-Boltzman simulation, and CFX for turbomachinery,
among many others. A relative newcomer is EXN/Aero with its focus on improving
performance on very large scale simulations through the combined use of CPU and GPU
processing. These platforms can be cost effective if you can match their capabilities to
your needs with a high level of confidence.

Comprehensive Packages: For many years, the gold standards in CFD simulation have
been Fluent and Star-CCM+ and they are both excellent and diverse tools. Fluent seems to
capture more market share in electronic and industrial product markets and Star-CCM+ in
the aerospace, automotive and energy industries. COMSOL’s CFD Module and Altair’s
AcuSolve are less widely used and are components of broader multiphysics simulation
platforms. Never-the-less, they have quickly grown in scope with additional capabilities that
are now approaching those of the big two. All four come equipped with meshing and post-
processing capabilities and can input from, and output to, all of the popular filetypes and
formats. The primary drawback to these packages is their price tag.

On-line CFD User Preference Survey Results: We’ve recently compiled the results from our
on-line survey asking readers for their CFD software package preferences. The results are
shown below. Unsurprisingly, Fluent, Star-CCM+ and OpenFOAM remain the dominant
forces in the CFD marketplace.

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