[S_teph_2000]

Hello,
I am presently (Happily) using Ansys CFX for steam turbines related CFD analysis:
- Compressible
- Multiphase flows (using IAPWS library for steam), equilibrium & non-equilibrium models.
- Steady & Transient
- Multi-core analysis
- CFX-turbo package

The problem is that recently, the quantity, size and complexity of my analysis have greatly increased, I invested in new/more powerful machines for my team, but investing in additional ANSYS licenses is out of reach for now, especially when it comes to HPC: I need a cheaper (so no open-source-->Commercial) alternative to CFX on the side to use all those new CPUs and speed up the job, and I don't have time or resources to start studying/using an OpenFoam-like system right now.
I hear about Numeca Fine Turbo, Star-CCM, Altair etc... but I don't have a clear picture of the pricing involved compared to what I have/had to pay with ANSYS licenses.
If you could guide me through this jungle, it would save me a lot of time (avoiding meeting the sales engineers of every potential software of interest to only discover that it does not do the job, or is still too expensive...),

Thank you all in advance for your help

Kazu.

[akidess]

Since you are willing to spend money, I think you discarded OpenFOAM too early. From the cash you save on licensing you can pay for a support contract to get you going in short time, or buy a GUI such as TCFD (https://www.cfdsupport.com/turbomachinery-cfd.html) or VisualCFD (https://www.openfoam.com/products/visualcfd.php).

[S_teph_2000]

Originally Posted by akidess

Since you are willing to spend money, I think you discarded OpenFOAM too early. From the cash you save on licensing you can pay for a support contract to get you going in short time, or buy a GUI such as TCFD (https://www.cfdsupport.com/turbomachinery-cfd.html) or VisualCFD (https://www.openfoam.com/products/visualcfd.php).

Thank you for your answer Akidess,
Please, take a look at the list of analysis I need to do in my original post, I don't know the extent of VisualCFD/Openfoam capabilities, But I've checked TCFD...
I met the people from CFDsupport at the ASME Turbo Expo 2 weeks ago, and they told me that they still cannot work with multi-phase compressible flows in general. This is my biggest concern when considering Openfoam: No readily usable solution for Steam turbines CFD when you stray away from Big players like ANSYS-CFX, StarCCM, etc... . I've personally tried code_saturne --> compressible multi-phase flows not officially/fully supported, no real example, and a lot of tweaking needed.
I would like to skip the "New capability implementation phase" if possible...
I you know of an affordable/accessible software that already fills that need without additional customization, please tell me.

Kazu

[akidess]

What exactly do you mean when you say compressible multiphase flows? What models would you like to have?

PS. Isn't it annoying that the major CFD vendors are not transparent in their license costs? Unfortunately I can't tell you more than you already know, and I would start with the same people that you already mentioned.

[JBeilke]

https://unicfd.ru/en/simulations/liq...merical-model/

Some of the problems with compressible multiphase flows are described in this article. The steam turbine flow should be possible with the addition of a phase change model to this solver.

[akidess]

Originally Posted by JBeilke

Some of the problems with compressible multiphase flows are described in this article. The steam turbine flow should be possible with the addition of a phase change model to this solver.

Seems to already be available here:
https://openfoamwiki.net/index.php/C...haseChangeFoam

The standard multiphaseEulerFoam also supports compressible phases with heat transfer (not sure about phase change).

[S_teph_2000]

Hello,

I am mainly using an equilibrium phase-change model (the mixture of the two phases [steam&water] is in local thermodynamic equilibrium) for compressible steam, in steady and unsteady CFD. The IAPWS library is used to define the steam properties.

Kazu

[LuckyTran]

Star-CCM also has very similar features to CFX and quite easy to switch to. On a per core basis the licensing from CD-Adapco is quite competitive with ANSYS. But w/ Star-CCM there is something called a power license which lets you run (a single job) on any number of cores that you like, meaning it's very scalable. ANSYS also has a similar unlimited license but they charge a lot more for it & it's not advertised. I think it's worth giving your local Star-CCM representative a call. Make sure you ask for the academic discount if it applies to you.