Comparision of CFD Tools/Software

The landscape of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software has significantly evolved in past decade, becoming more accessible beyond research labs and large corporations to a diverse array of engineers and scientists. Choosing the right CFD software is critical, similar to selecting a key team member, as it can either accelerate projects or lead to challenges. DiPhyx as an end-to-end scientific computing platform, offers a wide variety of CFD software. It is imperative to choose the right CFD tool for your team and research goals.

In this story, we provide key concepts for selecting the right CFD tool, followed by a table that compares these tools.

Basic Concepts of CFD

Key concepts in CFD are pivotal for understanding and effectively comparing different software:

• CFD Formulation Techniques:
  • RANS (Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes): Ideal for industrial applications to model turbulent flows by averaging fluid motion over time.
  • LES (Large Eddy Simulation): Useful in capturing large-scale turbulent flow structures, particularly in complex geometries.
  • DNS (Direct Numerical Simulation): Resolves all scales of turbulence directly, suitable mostly for fundamental research due to its computational demands.
• Numerical Methods:
  • Finite Difference Method (FDM): Utilizes structured grids to solve partial differential equations, suitable for simple geometries.
  • Finite Volume Method (FVM): Ensures conservation of fluxes across control volumes, ideal for complex geometries.
  • Finite Element Method (FEM): Provides solutions by subdividing problems into smaller elements, excellent for structural analysis and multiphysics problems.
  • Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM): Based on microscopic models and statistical mechanics, effective for simulating complex boundary conditions.

CFD Solvers and Features:

• Solvers: The core algorithms in CFD software can be pressure-based for incompressible flows or density-based for compressible flows.
• Scalability: Essential for handling large-scale or multi-scale simulations efficiently on high-performance computing systems.
• Multiphysics: Involves combining multiple physical phenomena like fluid-structure interaction or conjugate heat transfer.
• Radiation Modeling: Key in scenarios where heat transfer due to radiation is significant.
• GPU Support: Utilizes Graphics Processing Units to enhance simulation speeds dramatically.

Comparing CFD tools/software

Name	Type	Formulation	Numerical Methods	Solvers	Scalability	Multiphysics	Radiation Modeling	GPU Support
ANSYS Fluent	Proprietary	RANS/LES/DNS	Finite Volume	Pressure-based & Density-based	High	Yes	P1 Radiation Model	Yes
ANSYS CFX	Proprietary	RANS/LES	Finite Volume	Pressure-based	High	Yes	Discrete Transfer Radiation Model	Yes
Siemens STAR-CCM+	Proprietary	RANS/LES/DNS	Finite Volume	Pressure-based	High	Yes	Radiation Heat Transfer Model	Yes
Autodesk CFD	Proprietary	RANS/LES	Finite Volume	Pressure-based	Medium	Yes	Discrete Ordinates (DO) Model	Yes
COMSOL Multiphysics	Proprietary	RANS/LES	Finite Element	Pressure-based & Density-based	High	Yes	Surface-to-Surface Radiation	Yes
CD-adapco STAR-CD	Proprietary	RANS/LES/DNS	Finite Volume	Pressure-based	High	Yes	Radiation Heat Transfer Model	Yes
Mentor Graphics FloEFD	Proprietary	RANS	Finite Volume	Pressure-based	Medium	Yes	Monte Carlo Radiation Model	Yes
NUMECA FINE/Open	Proprietary	RANS/LES/DNS	Finite Volume	Pressure-based	High	Yes	P1 & Monte Carlo Radiation Models	Yes
Altair AcuSolve	Proprietary	RANS/LES	Finite Element	Pressure-based	High	Yes	Radiosity Radiation Model	Yes
Converge CFD	Proprietary	RANS/LES/DNS	Finite Volume	Pressure-based	High	Yes	Monte Carlo Radiation Model	Yes
SimScale	Proprietary	RANS/LES	Finite Volume	Pressure-based	High	Yes	Discrete Ordinates (DO) Model	Yes
Simerics MP	Proprietary	RANS/LES	Finite Volume	Pressure-based	High	Yes	Discrete Transfer Radiation Model	Yes
Flow Science FLOW-3D	Proprietary	RANS/LES	Finite Volume	Pressure-based	High	Yes	Radiosity Radiation Model	Yes
OpenFOAM (Github)	Open Source	RANS/LES/DNS	Finite Volume	Pressure-based & Density-based	High	Yes	Discrete Ordinates (DO) Model	Yes
SU2	Open Source	RANS/LES/DNS	Finite Volume	Pressure-based & Density-based	High	Yes	None	No
CFDTool	Open Source	RANS	Finite Volume	Pressure-based	Low	No	None	No
FEniCS (Github)	Open Source	RANS/LES/DNS	Finite Element	Pressure-based & Density-based	High	Yes	None	Yes
Palabos (Github)	Open Source	LES/DNS	Lattice Boltzmann	None	High	No	None	Yes
Channelflow (Github)	Open Source	RANS/LES	Spectral Methods	None	Medium	No	None	No
Nektar++ (Github)	Open Source	RANS/LES/DNS	Spectral/hp Element	Pressure-based	High	Yes	None	Yes
Kratos Multiphysics (Github)	Open Source	RANS/LES/DNS	Finite Element	Pressure-based & Density-based	High	Yes	None	Yes
Elmer (Github)	Open Source	RANS/LES	Finite Element	Pressure-based	High	Yes	None	Yes
Flowmaster	Proprietary	RANS	1D CFD	Pressure-based	Medium	Yes	None	No
XFlow	Proprietary	LES/DNS	Lattice Boltzmann	None	High	Yes	Lattice Boltzmann Method	Yes
Phoenix Integration's ModelCenter	Proprietary	RANS/LES	None	None	High	Yes	None	No

For detailed information on CFD toolssoftware, please visit our blog. Also for the list of available software, please look at our software page.