Code Saturne
| Developer(s) | EDF |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 2.2.1 / April 12, 2012 |
| Written in | Fortran and C, scripts in Python, GUI uses PyQt |
| Operating system | Linux, Mac OS X, Unix-like |
| Platform | Personal computers, Clusters, Supercomputers |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | Official English website : http://code-saturne.org |
Code_Saturne is a general purpose computational fluid dynamics free computer software package. Developed since 1997 at EDF R&D, Code_Saturne is distributed under the GNU GPL licence. It is based on a co-located Finite Volume approach that accepts meshes with any type of cell (tetrahedral, hexahedral, prismatic, pyramidal, polyhedral…) and any type of grid structure (unstructured, block structured, hybrid, conforming or with hanging nodes…).
Its basic capabilities enable the handling of either incompressible or expandable flows with or without heat transfer and turbulence (mixing length, 2-equation models, v2f, Reynolds stress models, Large eddy simulation…). Dedicated modules are available for specific physics such as radiative heat transfer, combustion (gas, coal, heavy fuel oil, …), magneto-hydro dynamics, compressible flows, two-phase flows (Euler-Lagrange approach with two-way coupling), extensions to specific applications (e.g. for atmospheric environment).
Code_Saturne can be coupled to thermal software SYRTHES for conjugate heat transfer. It can also be used jointly with structural analysis software Code_Aster, in particular in the Salomé platform. SYRTHES and Code_Aster are developed by EDF and distributed under the GNU GPL licence.
Code Saturne install
Code_Saturne, may be installed on a Linux or other Unix-like system by downloading and building it. No system files are changed, so administrator privileges are not required if the code is installed in a user's directory. Packages for Code_Saturne are also available on Debian and Ubuntu. Alternatively, CAE Linux (latest version CAE Linux 2011), which is based on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS, includes Code_Saturne pre-installed.
Some users have also reported success building Code_Saturne on Windows systems, and even running it in parallel, with a few minor edits to the code. As the code's build system is based on the GNU Autotools, using Cygwin or MSYS and MinGW is required, and this is not fully supported yet.
Alternative software
- ANSYS CFX (proprietary software)
- ANSYS Fluent (proprietary software)
- Gerris Flow Solver (GPL)
- OpenFOAM (GPL)
- STAR-CCM+ (proprietary software)
See also
External links
- (English) Official english website
- (French) Official french website
- (French) Code Saturne Installation on Mandriva Linux
- (English) Code_Saturne Overview (pdf, 2 pages)
- (English) Overview of EDF's Open Source initiative (pdf, 2 pages)
- (English) code-saturne.blogspot.com : Independent user's Blog about SALOME, Code_Saturne, ParaView and Numerical Modelling
- (English) CAE Linux : LiveDVD with Code_Saturne, Code_Aster and the Salomé platform
- (English) Website at the University of Manchesteres:Code Saturne
