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KRATOS multiphysics VS OpenFOAM

Compare KRATOS multiphysics VS OpenFOAM and see what are their differences

KRATOS multiphysics logo KRATOS multiphysics

Kratos Webpage

OpenFOAM logo OpenFOAM

OpenFOAM® - Official home of The Open Source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Toolbox.
  • KRATOS multiphysics Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-10
  • OpenFOAM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-08-02

KRATOS multiphysics features and specs

  • Modularity
    KRATOS Multiphysics is designed with a modular architecture which allows users to easily extend and customize the software by adding new features or physics.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source platform, KRATOS offers the ability for users to access and modify the source code, encouraging collaborative development and innovation.
  • Multiphysics Capabilities
    KRATOS supports a wide range of physical simulations and can handle complex multiphysics problems, making it a versatile tool for researchers and engineers.
  • Strong Community Support
    It benefits from an active user community and ongoing support from the CIMNE, providing good resources for troubleshooting and development.
  • High Performance
    Designed for high computational performance, KRATOS effectively utilizes parallel computing resources to perform large-scale simulations.

Possible disadvantages of KRATOS multiphysics

  • Complexity
    KRATOS has a steep learning curve, especially for beginners, due to its wide range of functionalities and the necessity to understand its modular architecture.
  • Documentation
    While comprehensive, the documentation can often be inconsistent, which can pose challenges in fully understanding and utilizing some of the more advanced features.
  • Limited Pre-Processing Tools
    KRATOS has limited built-in tools for pre-processing, which may require users to employ additional software for tasks such as mesh generation.
  • User Interface
    The graphical user interface options are not as developed or user-friendly compared to some commercial alternatives, which can affect usability.
  • Customized Setup
    The need for significant customization and setup to fit specific application needs may be time-consuming and requires good programming skills.

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.

Analysis of OpenFOAM

Overall verdict

  • OpenFOAM is a powerful and versatile tool for CFD that is well-regarded in both academia and industry. Its open-source nature and comprehensive feature set make it a valuable resource for those needing customizability and advanced simulation capabilities.

Why this product is good

  • OpenFOAM is a popular open-source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool that provides a wide range of features for simulating complex fluid flows.
  • It offers a flexible and extensible platform, allowing users to customize solvers and utilities to fit specific simulation needs.
  • The extensive library of pre-built solvers and utilities is suitable for various applications, from automotive to aerospace engineering.
  • Being open-source, it encourages collaboration and sharing of improvements, making it highly adaptable and continuously evolving.
  • Comprehensive documentation and a large user community contribute to reliable support and knowledge exchange.

Recommended for

  • Engineers and researchers in academia who require a robust CFD tool with customization capabilities.
  • Industry professionals involved in research and development who need flexible and cost-effective CFD solutions.
  • Advanced users with programming skills who want to leverage and extend its capabilities for specific project needs.

KRATOS multiphysics videos

Kratos - An introduction

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 KRATOS multiphysics and OpenFOAM)
Numerical Computation
18 18%
82% 82
CFD
34 34%
66% 66
Technical Computing
12 12%
88% 88
Computational Fluid Dynamics

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.

KRATOS multiphysics mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of KRATOS multiphysics yet. Tracking of KRATOS multiphysics 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: over 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: over 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 KRATOS multiphysics and OpenFOAM, you can also consider the following products

elmer - Elmer is an open-source software package that solves partial differential equations. Combined with its ability to run various equations in parallel, it is an effective tool for running multiphysical simulations. Read more about elmer.

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

SimFlow - SimFlow is a powerful CFD software, focused on engineering and science.

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

COMSOL Multiphysics - COMSOL is the developer of COMSOL Multiphysics software, an interactive environment for modeling and simulating scientific and engineering problems.

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.