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SU2

DEVOPS
Velocity0.0

Open source suite for multiphysics simulation and computational fluid dynamics

su2code.github.io ↗

SU2 is growing from an aerodynamics solver into a coupled multiphysics optimizer

cfdadjoint-optimizationmultiphysicsturbulence-modelslinear-solversgpu-acceleration
◆Current state
SU2 ships two or three releases a year under the same Harrier codename it has used since 8.0, each one a long list of contributed features rather than a single theme. The multiphysics work is the clearest thread: thermal expansion and centrifugal forces reached the FEA solver in 8.2.0, a coupled thermoelasticity solver followed, and 8.5.0 declares that coupling fully functional and adds its adjoint. Turbulence modelling gets steady attention in parallel, most recently a grey-area mitigation strategy for detached-eddy simulation.
◆Where it's heading
Two directions are visible in the contribution pattern. Adjoint capability is being extended to each new physics as it lands, which matters because gradient-based design optimization is what distinguishes SU2 from a general-purpose solver — a coupled solver without an adjoint is only half the feature. Meanwhile the numerics substrate is being reworked underneath: FGCRODR replacing GMRES for Newton-Krylov adjoints, PaStiX 6, multigrid tuning, better default compiler flags, and an early GPU port of the FGMRES solver contributed through Google Summer of Code. Machine learning enters narrowly, through data-driven and physics-informed fluid models rather than as a general capability.
◆Prediction
The GPU work so far covers one linear solver and is still labelled experimental, so the plausible next step is extending it to more of the solve rather than a new physics module. Expect the adjoint-follows-physics pattern to continue with whatever coupling lands next.

◆Recent moves

  1. 3mo ago

    SU2 8.5.0 completes thermoelastic coupling and adds its adjoint

    The payoff release for a coupling that has been building since 8.2.0: thermo-elasticity is declared fully functional and gains an adjoint, which is what makes it usable for design optimization rather than analysis alone. Multigrid tuning, PaStiX 6, better default compiler flags and DES grey-area mitigation round it out.

    View source ↗
  2. 7mo ago

    SU2 8.4.0 adds the FGCRODR solver and SST roughness boundaries

    Mostly solver and boundary-condition work: FGCRODR joins the linear solver options, Newton-Krylov gets improvements, and SST gains roughness boundary conditions and custom species wall BCs. Continues the pattern of reworking numerics underneath the physics rather than adding new physics.

    View source ↗
  3. 11mo ago

    SU2 8.3.0 lands a CUDA port of FGMRES and RBF mesh deformation

    A Google Summer of Code contribution brings CUDA acceleration to the FGMRES linear solver — SU2's first meaningful GPU offload, still experimental and confined to one solver. RBF mesh deformation and corrected SA and SST discretisation terms address the robustness the release notes lead with.

    View source ↗
  4. 1y ago

    SU2 8.2.0 adds a coupled thermoelasticity solver and PINN fluid models

    Where the thermoelastic thread starts: thermal expansion and centrifugal forces enter the FEA solver and a coupled solver arrives, three releases before 8.5.0 declares the coupling complete. Physics-informed neural networks join the data-driven fluid model, keeping SU2's machine learning narrowly scoped to constitutive modelling.

    View source ↗
  5. 1y ago

    SU2 8.1.0 adds solid-to-solid conjugate heat transfer and custom inlets

    Solid-to-solid conjugate heat transfer and preferential diffusion in the flamelet model extend the multiphysics and combustion surfaces. The Python wrapper keeps absorbing configuration that used to require config files, here custom inlet profiles.

    View source ↗
  6. 2y ago

    SU2 8.0.1 adds actuator-disk BEM, fixes CoDiPack adjoint locking

    A patch release that still carries features, including blade element momentum for actuator disks and Python control of marker translation and rotation rates. The bulk is correctness work — address-sanitizer fixes, CGNS writing, double deformation of shared points — following the large 8.0.0 release.

    View source ↗