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OpenFOAM VS ANSYS CFX

Compare OpenFOAM VS ANSYS CFX and see what are their differences

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OpenFOAM logo OpenFOAM

OpenFOAM® - Official home of The Open Source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Toolbox.

ANSYS CFX logo ANSYS CFX

ANSYS CFX is CFD software that delivers fast, reliable and accurate CFD simulations. CFX is the leading turbomachinery simulation solution.
  • OpenFOAM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-08-02
  • ANSYS CFX Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-11-17

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    Although community-driven, the documentation can sometimes be incomplete or outdated, making it challenging for new users to find reliable and up-to-date instructions and tutorials.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.

ANSYS CFX features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

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.

OpenFOAM videos

+ Add

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

ANSYS CFX videos

+ Add

Ansys CFX - Flow from a chimney Part 3/3 review the results in FieldView 14

More videos:

  • Review - Ansys CFX - Flow from a chimney Part 1/3

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OpenFOAM and ANSYS CFX)

OpenFOAM

ANSYS CFX

Numerical Computation
91 91%
Numerical Computation
9% 9
Technical Computing
91 91%
Technical Computing
9% 9
CFD
88 88%
CFD
12% 12
Simulation Software
100 100%
Simulation Software
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using OpenFOAM and ANSYS CFX. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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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.

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
View more

ANSYS CFX mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of ANSYS CFX yet. Tracking of ANSYS CFX recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing OpenFOAM and ANSYS CFX, you can also consider the following products

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

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

XFlow CFD - Discover XFlow, powered by Dassault Systèmes® SIMULIA, a high fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software based on Lattice-Boltzmann Method (LBM).

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.

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

Flow-3D - Flow-3D is an all-inclusive package from setup to simulation to post-processing.

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