PyFluent

Overview

PyFluent provides Pythonic access to Ansys Fluent. Its features enable the seamless use of Fluent within the Python ecosystem and broad access to native Fluent features, including the ability to:

• Launch Fluent using a local Ansys installation
• Use Fluent's TUI (text user interface) commands for both meshing and solver features
• Use Fluent's built-in postprocessing capabilities

Documentation and issues

For comprehensive information on PyFluent, see the latest release documentation.

On the PyFluent Issues page, you can create issues to submit questions, report bugs, and request new features. To reach the project support team, email [email protected].

Installation

The ansys-fluent-core package supports Python 3.8 through Python 3.11 on Windows and Linux.

Install the latest release from PyPI with:

pip install ansys-fluent-core

If you plan on doing local development of PyFluent with Git, install the latest release with:

git clone https://github.com/ansys/pyfluent.git
cd pyfluent
pip install pip -U
pip install -e .
python codegen/allapigen.py  # Generates the API files

Dependencies

You must have a licensed copy of Ansys Fluent installed locally. PyFluent supports Fluent 2022 R2 and later.

Getting started

Launching Fluent

To launch Fluent from Python, use the launch_fluent method:

import ansys.fluent.core as pyfluent
solver_session = pyfluent.launch_fluent(mode="solver")
solver_session.health_check_service.is_serving

On Windows systems the environment variable AWP_ROOT<ver> is configured when Fluent is installed, where <ver> is the Fluent release number such as 231 for release 2023 R1. PyFluent automatically uses this environment variable to locate the latest Fluent installation. On Linux systems configure AWP_ROOT<ver> to point to the absolute path of an Ansys installation such as /apps/ansys_inc/v231.

To use a specific Fluent release, set AWP_ROOT<ver> where <ver> is the Fluent release that you would like to use. For example, AWP_ROOT<231> uses release 2023 R1.

For information on other ways of specifying the Fluent location for PyFluent, see Frequently asked questions.

Basic usage

You can use the solver_session.tui interface to run all Fluent TUI commands:

solver_session.tui.file.read_case('elbow.cas.h5')
solver_session.tui.define.models.unsteady_2nd_order("yes")
solver_session.tui.solve.initialize.initialize_flow()
solver_session.tui.solve.dual_time_iterate(2, 3)

You can also install and use these PyFluent libraries:

• PyFluent Parametric, which provides access to Fluent's parametric workflows.
• PyFluent Visualization, which provides postprocessing and visualization capabilities using the pyvista and matplotlib packages.

License and acknowledgments

PyFluent is licensed under the MIT license.

PyFluent makes no commercial claim over Ansys whatsoever. This library extends the functionality of Ansys Fluent by adding a Python interface to Fluent without changing the core behavior or license of the original software. The use of the interactive Fluent control of PyFluent requires a legally licensed local copy of Fluent.

For more information on Fluent, see the Ansys Fluent page on the Ansys website.