Which is the common software used for CFD?

ANSYS or Fluent?

Aren't they same company?

ANSYS recently acquired Fluent Inc. so now both Fluent and CFX are produced by the same company; personally I use Fluent, but I don't know which one is the most used

ANSYS is a finite element software, which can be used to solve solid & fluid problem. FLUENT utilizes control-volume-based technique to convert a general scalar transport equation to an algebraic equation that can be solved numerically and focuses on simulating fluid flow.

Ansys have acquired both CFX and Fluent. CFX and Fluent are both designed for CFD simulations. Before you take your pick you should consider what type of simulation you are planning to do. If you are planning to do LES i would suggest you go for Fluent because i think it has an explicit scheme which is more appropriate for LES simulations. CFX on the other hand is more sophisticated software than fluent and uses fully implicit scheme. I have worked with both softwares and i like Fluent more. CFX i believe is more widely used software than any other CFD package.

alpha

I would say try some new s/w. Fluent is very expensive and what it is offering can be had from many others also. try to get quote/capability list from various vendors and choose accordingly.

I would say go for OpenFoam. Its open source and it offers a lot more than commercial CFD code. It is a little difficult to start with OpenFoam, however once you get hang of it you are really gone like it. Its solvers are robust and accurate and OpenFoam has many more features than CFX or Fluent. Above all its free! Install it today. www.openfoam.org is the web site. Just learn some basic linux before you do that though because OpenFoam runs on Linux operating system. Its wicked! I recommend it to all of you.

alpha

I think Alpha is right, open source software is the future so why not make the switch early!?! I use Fluent, it serves most of my needs and its user friendly. However the license fees are astronomical and that will only get worse. If you email them they get very defensive and 'upset'. CFX is a good program, I have only used it a bit but it can be over complicated in places. I'm not in a position to judge the best but Star-CD is widely used in industry and it gets glowing reports. However, they all want you to pay stupid money and openFoam is definately going to be the way. I hope its destroys these money making monsters, or at the very least alters their perception so they reduce costs.

Carlos.