Comparison between OpenFOAM and FLUENT: capabilities

Time4Tea · November 2, 2018, 15:34

This might seem like quite a broad question, but in terms of overall capabilities, how does OpenFOAM compare with FLUENT?

In particular:

Is it possible to (somehow) do literally everything that FLUENT can do in OpenFOAM?
Are there any specific capabilities that FLUENT has, which would be very difficult (or impossible) to do in OpenFOAM?
Conversely, are there any areas where OF really excels, which would be difficult to replicate in FLUENT?

akidess · November 5, 2018, 08:40

Depending on your scope, there is nothing you can do in Fluent which you cannot achieve with OpenFOAM, since OpenFOAM is extensible. Anything you desire you can code or have coded for you.

That being said, of course there are some things which out of the box Fluent does better (as there are some things which out of the box OpenFOAM does better IMO). One of these things are free surface flows with strong surface tension effects - Fluent's interface reconstruction works better.

Time4Tea · November 5, 2018, 14:11

Ok, thanks for your advice, akidess.

November 2, 2018, 15:34	Comparison between OpenFOAM and FLUENT: capabilities	#1
Time4Tea Senior Member Lee Strobel Join Date: Jun 2016 Posts: 133 Rep Power: 10	This might seem like quite a broad question, but in terms of overall capabilities, how does OpenFOAM compare with FLUENT? In particular: Is it possible to (somehow) do literally everything that FLUENT can do in OpenFOAM? Are there any specific capabilities that FLUENT has, which would be very difficult (or impossible) to do in OpenFOAM? Conversely, are there any areas where OF really excels, which would be difficult to replicate in FLUENT?

November 5, 2018, 08:40		#2
akidess Senior Member Anton Kidess Join Date: May 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 1,377 Rep Power: 30	Depending on your scope, there is nothing you can do in Fluent which you cannot achieve with OpenFOAM, since OpenFOAM is extensible. Anything you desire you can code or have coded for you. That being said, of course there are some things which out of the box Fluent does better (as there are some things which out of the box OpenFOAM does better IMO). One of these things are free surface flows with strong surface tension effects - Fluent's interface reconstruction works better. __________________ On twitter @akidTwit Spend as much time formulating your questions as you expect people to spend on their answer.

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November 5, 2018, 14:11		#3
Time4Tea Senior Member Lee Strobel Join Date: Jun 2016 Posts: 133 Rep Power: 10	Ok, thanks for your advice, akidess.