FEATFLOW

FEATFLOW

FEATFLOW is an open-source simulation software for modeling incompressible fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and fluid-structure interaction problems. It uses the finite element method and has interfaces for MATLAB and Paraview for preprocessing, solving, and postprocessing.
opensource finite-element-method fluid-flow-modeling heat-transfer-modeling mass-transfer-modeling fluidstructure-interaction matlab-interface paraview-interface

FEATFLOW: Open-Source Simulation Softwares

FEATFLOW is an open-source simulation software for modeling incompressible fluid flow, heat and mass transfer, and fluid-structure interaction problems. It uses the finite element method and has interfaces for MATLAB and Paraview for preprocessing, solving, and postprocessing.

What is FEATFLOW?

FEATFLOW is an open-source, parallelized finite element software package for simulating fluid flow, conjugate heat transfer, and fluid-structure interaction. It can model incompressible, laminar and turbulent flow, heat conduction and convection, mass transfer, and interactions between fluids and deformable solids.

Some key capabilities and features of FEATFLOW include:

  • Flexible hybrid meshing with triangles, quadrilaterals, tetrahedra, prisms, pyramids and hexahedra
  • Various turbulence models including k-epsilon, k-omega, Reynolds Stress, and Large Eddy Simulation
  • Conjugate heat transfer modeling for fluid-solid domains
  • Options for fluid-structure interaction and mesh deformation
  • Interfaces for preprocessing in Gmsh, and postprocessing in Paraview
  • Parallel processing using MPI and multithreading with OpenMP
  • Scripting capabilities for automation using Python
  • Interfacing with MATLAB for setting up cases and postprocessing

Some application areas where FEATFLOW has been used include aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, heat exchangers, and modeling of arteries and implants in biomechanics. Its open-source nature, flexibility, and scripting/automation make it well-suited for research and custom simulations.

FEATFLOW Features

Features

  1. Finite element analysis
  2. Incompressible Navier-Stokes equations
  3. Conjugate heat transfer
  4. Fluid-structure interaction
  5. Parallel computing
  6. Interfaces for MATLAB and Paraview

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Open source

Flexible and extensible

Good documentation

Active user community

Cons

Steep learning curve

Limited to finite element analysis

Not as feature rich as commercial alternatives


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