SU2 code

SU2 code

Initial release	January 2012
Stable release	4.3.0 / August 2016
Written in	C++, Python
Operating system	Unix/Linux/OS X/Windows
Type	Computational fluid dynamics, Simulation software
License	GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1
Website	su2.stanford.edu

SU2 is a suite of open-source software tools written in C++ for the numerical solution of partial differential equations (PDE) and performing PDE constrained optimization. The primary applications are computational fluid dynamics and aerodynamic shape optimization,^[1] but has been extended to treat more general equations such as electrodynamics and chemically reacting flows. SU2 supports continius and discrete adjoint for calculating the sensitivitys/gradients of a scalar field.

SU2 is being developed by individuals and organized teams around the world. The SU2 Lead Developers are: Dr. Francisco Palacios and Dr. Thomas D. Economon.

The most active groups developing SU2 are:

• Prof. Juan J. Alonso's group at Stanford University.
• Prof. Piero Colonna's group at Delft University of Technology.
• Prof. Nicolas R. Gauger's group at Kaiserslautern University of Technology.
• Prof. Alberto Guardone's group at Polytechnic University of Milan.
• Prof. Rafael Palacios' group at Imperial College London.

Capabilities

The SU2 tools suite solution suite includes^[2]

• High-fidelity analysis and adjoint-based design using unstructured mesh technology.
• Compressible and incompressible Euler, Navier-Stokes, and RANS solvers.
• Additional PDE solvers for electrodynamics, linear elasticity, heat equation, wave equation and thermochemical non-equilibrium.
• Convergence acceleration (multi-grid, preconditioning, etc.).
• Sensitivity information via the continuous adjoint methodology^[3] approach.
• Adaptive, goal-oriented mesh refinement and deformation.
• Modularized ^[4] C++ object-oriented design.
• Parallelization with MPI.
• Python scripts for automation.

Release history

Branch	Version	Releasedate[5]	Improvements
1.0	Old version, no longer supported: 1.0	28 June 2013
	Old version, no longer supported: 1.1	28 June 2013
2.0	Old version, no longer supported: 2.0	28 June 2013
	Old version, no longer supported: 2.0.1	28 June 2013
	Old version, no longer supported: 2.0.2	28 June 2013
	Old version, no longer supported: 2.0.3	28 June 2013
	Old version, no longer supported: 2.0.4	28 June 2013
	Old version, no longer supported: 2.0.5	28 June 2013
Old version, no longer supported: 2.0.6	12 August 2013
Old version, no longer supported: 2.0.7	11 September 2013
Old version, no longer supported: 2.0.8	30 September 2013
Old version, no longer supported: 2.0.10	11 September 2013
3.0 "eagle"	Old version, no longer supported: 3.0.0	15 January 2014	Major release, along with SU2_EDU
3.1 "eagle"	Old version, no longer supported: 3.1.0	14 August 2014
3.2 "eagle"	Old version, no longer supported: 3.2.0	14 August 2014	Renamed C++ modules for clarity: * SU2_DDC ---> SU2_PRT * SU2_MDC ---> SU2_DEF * SU2_MAC ---> SU2_MSH * SU2_GDC ---> SU2_GEO * SU2_GPC ---> SU2_DOT Stricter checking and improved error messages for robust parsing of configuration options. Unified set of SU2 test cases (meshes and config. files) are now available on GitHub (https://github.com/su2code/TestCases). Major updates to the MPI implementation that improve performance and align with the MPI 3.0 standard. Modifications that greatly enhance computational efficiency and memory scalability of mesh partitioning for parallel calculations. New constant lift mode. Specify a target lift coefficient rather than a fixed angle of attack. Upgrades to the CGNS mesh reader for further support of mixed-element meshes. General bug fixes and maintenance.
	Old version, no longer supported: 3.2.1	8 September 2014	Additional verification test cases for shape design using the compressible adjoint capability (in collaboration with Lockheed Martin). Preliminary structure for the simulation of real gases (in collaboration with TuDelft and Politecnico di Milano). New FFD design variables (in collaboration with Volkswagen). New preconditioners and smoothers for implicit time integration (in collaboration with Intel). Simplified configuration options (in collaboration with the large SU2 users community. Thanks!). General bug fixes and maintenance.
	Old version, no longer supported: 3.2.2	28 September 2014	SU2 version 3.2.2 includes general bug fixes and maintenance. The Pointwise and SU2 joint workshop (Sept 29th-30th, 2014) is based on this release.
	Old version, no longer supported: 3.2.3	22 October 2014	Improved multigrid agglomeration algorithm. United States customary units (US). Improved I/O. New smoothers and preconditioners for the implicit formulation. Simplified configuration options. General bug fixes and maintenance.
	Old version, no longer supported: 3.2.4	9 November 2014
	Old version, no longer supported: 3.2.5	4 December 2014
	Old version, no longer supported: 3.2.7	27 December 2014	New MPI implementation (only one .su2 mesh file per rank). Improved multigrid (including Full MG). Code optimization using the analyze tool (Xcode). Simplified configuration options. General bug fixes and maintenance.
	Old version, no longer supported: 3.2.8	3 February 2015
	Old version, no longer supported: 3.2.9	4 March 2015
4.0 "Cardinal"	Old version, no longer supported: 4.0.0	23 June 2015	New Features: Non-ideal compressible fluid flows (NICFD): Van der Waals and Peng-Robinson equations of state. Fully parallel preprocessing with ParMETIS. SA-neg turbulence model. Adaptive CFL. Easily generate FFD boxes with new options. Force breakdown file and FieldView output. Scale, rotate, translate meshes in SU2_DEF. Iterative smoothers: Jacobi, LU-SGS, ILU(0). Updated non-dimensionalization options for ease of use. General bug fixes. Performance Improvements: MPI and general performance improvements. Increased mesh deformation stability for all unstructured mesh elements. CGNS parallel partitioning improvements. Automated multigrid parameter selection. Increased robustness for upwind methods. Low-storage output mode. Additional Updates: Updated documentation on the GitHub wiki, including user tutorials and new developer information. New regression test system integrated with Travis CI.
	Old version, no longer supported: 4.0.1	1 September 2015	Improved performance for scaling, rotating, translating meshes using SU2_DEF. Configuration file option MATH_PROBLEM now requires CONTINUOUS_ADJOINT instead of ADJOINT. New datatype abstraction for future flexibility: all current and future double types in the code should be the new su2double type. New MPI wrapper abstraction for future flexibility. Restructuring of the test case suite: the configuration files for the TestCases repository now live in a mirrored directory structure under the SU2 repository in order to make automatic testing with Travis CI more effective. To use, download both repositories and recursively copy the contents of one TestCases/ directory into the other to complete the set. Clean up of the build-from-source process, including file placement and default build settings. New compile flag options for including the HDF5, SZIP, and ZLIB external libraries, which enables HDF5-based CGNS file usage with SU2. General bug fixes and code maintenance.
	Old version, no longer supported: 4.0.2	3 November 2015
4.1 "Cardinal"	Old version, no longer supported: 4.1.0	22 April 2016	Algorithmic Differentiation for exact derivative computations throughout the code. Discrete adjoint implementation for the Euler, Navier-Stokes, and RANS equations. New adjoint outlet boundary conditions for treating downstream functionals. High-level driver classes for easily formulating multi-physics problems. Generalized Riemann flow boundary condition, including real gas effects. New finite element class library for future flexibility. Modifications to the source code for easier compilation on Windows. General bug fixes and performance improvements.
	Old version, no longer supported: 4.1.1	5 April 2016
	Old version, no longer supported: 4.1.2	22 April 2016
	Old version, no longer supported: 4.1.3	24 May 2016
4.2 "Cardinal"	Old version, no longer supported: 4.2.0	15 June 2016	Native Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) solver. Unsteady discrete adjoint for the Euler, Navier-Stokes, and RANS equations. Increased robustness of the pseudo-structural mesh deformation routines. Memory and efficiency improvements related to parallel file readers, mesh partitioning, and class data management. Expanded regression suite coverage to additional modules and new test cases. Improved solution output for RANS visualization. General bug fixes and performance improvements.
4.3 "Cardinal"	Current stable version: 4.3.0	22 August 2016	Redesign of the high-level Driver classes for code clarity and future flexibility. Alternating digital tree (ADT) implementation for efficient geometric searches. Stability improvements for the periodic boundary condition implementation. Improved memory management and leak removal throughout the entire codebase. CGNS v3.3.0 now distributed and automatically integrated with the autotools build. Additional bug fixes, stability improvements, and general code maintenance.
Legend: Old version Older version, still supported Latest version Latest preview version Future release

License

SU2 is free and open source software, released under the GNU General Public License version 3 (SU2 v1.0 and v2.0) and GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 (SU2 v2.0.7 and later versions).^[6]

Alternative software

Free and open-source software

• Advanced Simulation Library (AGPL)^[7]
• CLAWPACK^[8]
• Code Saturne (GPL)
• FEATool Multiphysics^[9]
• Gerris Flow Solver (GPL)
• OpenFOAM
• OpenFVM^[10]
• Palabos Flow Solver^[11]

Proprietary software

• ADINA CFD
• ANSYS CFX
• ANSYS Fluent
• Azore ^[12]
• Pumplinx
• STAR-CCM+
• COMSOL Multiphysics
• KIVA (software)
• RELAP5-3D
• PowerFlow
• FOAMpro
• SimScale^[13]
• Cradle ^[14] SC/Tetra ^[15]
• Cradle scSTREAM ^[16]
• Cradle Heat Designer ^[17]

References

1. F. Palacios, M. R. Colonno, A. C. Aranake, A. Campos, S. R. Copeland, T. D. Economon, A. K. Lonkar, T. W. Lukaczyk, T. W. R. Taylor, and J. J. Alonso, "Stanford University Unstructured (SU2): An open-source integrated computational environment for multi-physics simulation and design", AIAA Paper 2013-0287, 51st AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit. January 7th - 10th, 2013. Grapevine, Texas, USA.
2. SU2 about page
3. A. Bueno-Orovio, C. Castro, F. Palacios, and E. Zuazua "Continuous Adjoint Approach for the Spalart-Allmaras Model in Aerodynamic Optimization", AIAA Journal Vol. 50, No. 3, March 2012.
4. SU2 tools list
5. "SU2-Suit releases". Github.com. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
6. SU2 Licensing Page
7. Advanced Simulation Library Homepage
8. Clawpack homepage
9. FEATool Multiphysics homepage
10. OpenFVM homepage
11. Palabos homepage
12. Azore Technologies, LLC Home Page
13. SimScale company website, Open Source
14. Software Cradle Co., Ltd. Home Page
15. SC/Tetra Page
16. scSTREAM Page
17. Heat Designer Page

External links

Official resources

• SU2 home page
• SU2 Github repository

Community resources

• SU2 Forum at CFD Online
• SU2 wiki page at CFD Online

Other resources

• SU2 version 2.0 announcement
• Tecplot Co-founder review of SU2
• Stanford News story about SU2 initial release