PyFR — The Complete Guide: Open-Source High-Order CFD on GPUs
PyFR is an open-source (BSD) CFD platform developed at Imperial College London. It solves the flow equations with the high-order Flux Reconstruction method on unstructured meshes with mixed element types. The code is written in Python and generates fast compute kernels at run time for the hardware it runs on — NVIDIA, AMD, Intel and Apple GPUs as well as ordinary CPUs.
PyFR
PyFR team (Imperial College London)
High-order CFD solver using Flux Reconstruction, running on GPUs as well as ordinary CPUs.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- High-order accuracy — less numerical diffusion and sharper flow structures.
- Unstructured meshes — mixed elements around complex geometry.
- GPU execution — graphics cards put to work on large simulations.
- Unsteady flow — aimed at LES and DNS of turbulence and vortices.
- Parallel computing — runs across multiple GPUs and clusters.
Who it suits and what to know
Researchers and experienced flow engineers who need accurate unsteady simulations, for example around a wing or a blade. It is not a beginner’s tool: there is no graphical interface, you work with configuration files at the command line, the mesh is prepared in an external program such as Gmsh, and results are viewed in ParaView. You need to be comfortable with Python, Linux and GPU environments, and understand high-order methods well enough to build a suitable mesh.
Related tools
For a more accessible CFD and aerodynamic design solver — SU2. For preparing the mesh — Gmsh. For viewing results — ParaView.
SU2
SU2 Foundation
Multiphysics CFD with adjoint-based design optimisation — systematic shape improvement.
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Gmsh
Gmsh Project
FEA mesh generator with built-in geometry and scripting — standard infrastructure for open numerical work.
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ParaView
Kitware / Sandia / Los Alamos
Large-scale simulation post-processing — slices, streamlines and animation.
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Nektar++
Imperial College London / University of Utah
A spectral/hp element framework for high-accuracy simulation.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
PyFR is one of the most advanced open solvers for high-order CFD on GPUs. In experienced hands it is very powerful; for routine engineering CFD there are simpler tools.