Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

COCO Simulator VS OpenFOAM

Compare COCO Simulator VS OpenFOAM and see what are their differences

COCO Simulator logo COCO Simulator

COCO (CAPE-OPEN to CAPE-OPEN) is a free-of-charge CAPE-OPEN compliant steady-state simulation...

OpenFOAM logo OpenFOAM

OpenFOAM® - Official home of The Open Source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Toolbox.
  • COCO Simulator Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-10-16
  • OpenFOAM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-08-02

COCO Simulator features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    COCO Simulator provides a user-friendly interface that makes it accessible to a wide range of users, including those who may not have extensive experience with process simulation software.
  • Open Source Platform
    Being an open-source platform, COCO Simulator allows users to freely access, modify, and share the software, promoting collaboration and transparency.
  • Modularity
    The simulator's modular architecture enables users to incorporate various components and customize simulations according to their specific needs.
  • Comprehensive Capabilities
    COCO Simulator supports a wide range of unit operations and thermodynamic models, making it versatile for simulating different chemical processes.
  • Cost-Effective
    As a free resource, COCO Simulator is a cost-effective solution for both educational and professional purposes, avoiding the financial burden of expensive commercial software.

Possible disadvantages of COCO Simulator

  • Limited Technical Support
    As an open-source tool, users might experience limited technical support compared to commercial alternatives, potentially leading to slower troubleshooting and issue resolution.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, users without prior experience in process simulation might still encounter a steep learning curve due to the complexity of chemical engineering concepts involved.
  • Potential for Compatibility Issues
    Integrating COCO Simulator with other proprietary software systems could present compatibility challenges, requiring additional effort for seamless interoperability.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    Compared to some high-end commercial software, COCO Simulator might lack certain advanced features and functionalities needed for very complex simulations.
  • Community-Driven Updates
    Updates and new features rely on community contributions, which can lead to unpredictable development timelines and potentially slower implementation of new advancements.

OpenFOAM features and specs

  • Open Source
    OpenFOAM is free to use and its source code is openly available under the GPL license, allowing for extensive customization and transparency in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.
  • Extensibility
    Users can extend and modify the functionality of OpenFOAM to suit specific needs or integrate new algorithms, making it highly adaptable to various projects and research requirements.
  • Community and Support
    A robust community of users and developers contributes to forums, documentation, and collaboration, providing substantial peer support and shared knowledge.
  • Versatility
    OpenFOAM supports a wide range of physical models and simulation types, from simple incompressible flow to complex multiphase flows and chemical reactions, making it suitable for diverse applications.
  • Parallel Computing
    Optimized for parallel processing, OpenFOAM can run efficiently on high-performance computing systems, thereby handling large-scale simulations effectively.

Possible disadvantages of OpenFOAM

  • Steep Learning Curve
    OpenFOAM requires a significant investment of time to learn and master, as it involves understanding complex physics, programming concepts, and software-specific syntaxes.
  • Limited GUI
    Unlike some commercial CFD software, OpenFOAM lacks a sophisticated graphical user interface (GUI), necessitating users to rely on command-line input and scripting for setup and execution of simulations.
  • Documentation Quality
    Although community-driven, the documentation can sometimes be incomplete or outdated, making it challenging for new users to find reliable and up-to-date instructions and tutorials.
  • Performance Variation
    Performance and stability can vary depending on the specific simulation setup and hardware used, which may require users to conduct extensive testing and optimization.
  • Dependency Management
    Installing and maintaining OpenFOAM and its dependencies can be complex, often requiring specific versions of libraries and compilers to ensure compatibility and optimal performance.

COCO Simulator videos

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OpenFOAM videos

What is OpenFoam? | Skill-Lync

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to run your first simulation in OpenFOAM® - Part 1 - tutorial
  • Tutorial - CFD tutorial for beginners | What is OpenFOAM? | SKILL-LYNC

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to COCO Simulator and OpenFOAM)
Simulation Software
41 41%
59% 59
Technical Computing
15 15%
85% 85
Monitoring Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Numerical Computation
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, OpenFOAM seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 19 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

COCO Simulator mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of COCO Simulator yet. Tracking of COCO Simulator recommendations started around Mar 2021.

OpenFOAM mentions (19)

  • OpenFOAM on Debian 12
    In openfoam.org, there is not compiled binaries for Debian (any version). So one should install it using docker (I prefer to do not use it) or by compiling the code from the source. I consider compiling from source, but I do prefer binaries. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Please help me get running OpenFOAM
    Hello I am a mechanical engineering student in my last year. So I made the wisest decision to learn OpenFOAM. But there is the catch. I have no idea how to use Linux or how to emulate Linux on Windows 10. I found a lot of videos on Youtube how to download an start OpenFOAM but every one of them was using different methods each time so I got confused. Can anyone please help or direct me? Thank you for your answers... Source: about 2 years ago
  • Step by Step (Written not Video) Tutorial for FEM with Air
    As far as air flow simulation, I got slightly farther with Open Foam than I did in FreeCAD directly. Still, I got in way over my skill level and stopped before getting anything useful. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Open source FEA tools instead of ANSYS Workbench and APDL
    There are two versions of openfoam, one closed source (which is the one I linked to in my original comment, my apologies about that) and the open source version. But what you're describing makes it sound like fenics might be your best option. Source: over 2 years ago
  • command not found and looping
    I suggest you install per the instructions at openfoam.com or openfoam.org instead of using apt. Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing COCO Simulator and OpenFOAM, you can also consider the following products

CHEMCAD - We equip chemical engineers with integrated and intuitive process simulation software to tackle projects large and small. Discover how CHEMCAD can help you design, analyze and measure simple and complex processes like never before.

ANSYS Fluent - ANSYS engineering simulation and 3D design software delivers product modeling solutions with unmatched scalability and a comprehensive multiphysics foundation.

Aspen HYSYS - Aspen HYSYS is a software solution for chemical process simulation and modeling.

MATLAB - A high-level language and interactive environment for numerical computation, visualization, and programming

CADSIM Plus - CADSIM Plus is a chemical process modeling and simulation software capable of simulating detailed furnace assemblies and associated equipment.

Wolfram Mathematica - Mathematica has characterized the cutting edge in specialized processing—and gave the chief calculation environment to a large number of pioneers, instructors, understudies, and others around the globe.