MOOSE — The Complete Guide: The Free Multiphysics Framework From Idaho National Laboratory
MOOSE (Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment) is an open-source (LGPL) finite element framework from Idaho National Laboratory (INL). It lets you couple different physics in one implicit solve, and it takes care of parallel computing, meshes and numerical solvers itself.
MOOSE Framework
Idaho National Laboratory
A multi-physics finite-element framework from Idaho National Laboratory.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Full coupling — heat, solid mechanics, porous flow, chemistry and neutronics in the same model.
- Ready modules — a set of physics modules that ship with the framework.
- Parallelism — from the same input file, from a laptop to a supercomputer.
- Readable input files — a problem defined in a structured text file, without writing code.
- C++ extension — new applications are written as small modules on top of the framework.
Who it suits
Research in nuclear energy, geomechanics, batteries and materials — many codes in these fields are built on MOOSE. It runs on Linux and macOS (on Windows through WSL), and needs command-line familiarity and some C++. For routine structural analysis it is too heavy.
Related tools
For a Python-based multiphysics framework — Kratos Multiphysics. For multiphysics with a graphical interface — Elmer. For viewing results — ParaView.
Kratos Multiphysics
CIMNE
A multi-physics finite-element framework with Python scripting.
Get it from the vendor
Elmer FEM
CSC — IT Center for Science, Finland
Multiphysics FEA — solids, flow, heat and electromagnetics — with its own graphical interface.
Get it from the vendor
ParaView
Kitware / Sandia / Los Alamos
Large-scale simulation post-processing — slices, streamlines and animation.
Get it from the vendor
Gmsh
Gmsh Project
FEA mesh generator with built-in geometry and scripting — standard infrastructure for open numerical work.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
MOOSE is one of the most powerful multiphysics frameworks available for free, for anyone willing to invest in learning it.