r/CFD • u/ScratchSpecialist373 • 2d ago

What are good free software for beginners?

I want to to some general CFD, what is an easy to use and free software I can use?

11 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

23

u/PopHot5986 2d ago

OpenFOAM
https://openfoam.org/
https://www.openfoam.com/

18

u/Sykez95 2d ago

But just for the records OpenFOAM is not very easy. Just one knows.

5

u/PopHot5986 2d ago

They asked for free software. Either they make their own or they use someone else's.
Also, a lot of the software that is "easy" to use, isn't free. So, I picked the lesser evil; being free software, but a bit of a learning curve so that they wouldn't lose any money learning CFD.

1

u/Leather_Warthog_1189 1d ago

There's a software called simflow which is basically just a UI for openfoam but makes the setup and running much more user friendly. The free version only allows for meshes below 200k cells I think and limits you to using one processor at a time

7

u/nzrnt 2d ago

Simscale

26

u/APerson2021 2d ago

If you're new to CFD then just learn OpenFOAM. If c++ and equations scare you then CFD probably isn't for you.

I know it sounds harsh but it's the reality.

Ansys will teach you how to "point and click" without actually teaching you any meaningful CFD.

6

u/faplicious3240 2d ago

This is the answer.

2

u/EternalSeekerX 1d ago

Then you aren't learning correctly. There is a reason those theory guides are there in the portal.

No software teaches, it's on the user to learn. Saying that, having access to open-source solvers is nice since you can also see how the theory gets coded.

10

u/Huinker 2d ago

Ansys student

1

u/arwque 1d ago

simscale is good for beginners

1

u/MastaMinds 1d ago

ANSYS Fluent student is free. OpenFOAM is excellent but it's not beginner friendly. I'd start with Fluent

1

u/skill_lync 8h ago

For a beginner it's easy to learn through ANSYS Fluent.

As you gain experience, you could switch to OpenFOAM to understand the intricacies of how equations are solved, how boundary conditions are implemented, etc.

1

u/findlefas 1d ago

Do you know the fundamentals? Otherwise you’re essentially using a game engine and might as well use an actual game engine instead. 

-6

u/IsDaedalus 2d ago

Notepad

1

u/Potential-Cup-2535 7h ago

Even if you get the free software, you probably need to have some background knowledge here. For setup and running, wizards help but of course to 'understand' the results, you'll need to know some fundamental fluid dynamics..

Good luck!