We may earn an affiliate commission when you visit our partners.

CFD

Save
May 1, 2024 Updated July 8, 2025 12 minute read

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical methods to solve and analyze problems that involve fluid flows. CFD is used in a wide range of industries, including aerospace, automotive, chemical, and biomedical engineering. CFD can be used to predict the behavior of fluids in a variety of applications, such as the design of aircraft wings, the flow of blood through the human body, and the cooling of electronic components.

Why Learn CFD?

There are many reasons why someone might want to learn CFD. Some people learn CFD to satisfy their curiosity about how fluids behave. Others learn CFD to meet academic requirements for a degree in engineering or science. Still others learn CFD to use it in their careers to develop new products or improve existing ones. No matter what your reason for learning CFD, there are many resources available to help you get started.

How to Learn CFD

There are many ways to learn CFD. You can take courses at a university or college, read books and articles, or take online courses. There are many online CFD courses available, and they are a great way to learn CFD at your own pace and on your own schedule.

Careers in CFD

CFD is a rapidly growing field, and there is a high demand for CFD engineers. CFD engineers work in a variety of industries, including aerospace, automotive, chemical, and biomedical engineering. CFD engineers use CFD to design new products, improve existing ones, and solve problems in a variety of applications.

Tools and Software

There are a variety of CFD software packages available, both commercial and open-source. Some of the most popular CFD software packages include ANSYS Fluent, COMSOL Multiphysics, and OpenFOAM. The choice of CFD software package depends on the specific application you are working on and your budget.

Tangible Benefits

Learning CFD can provide you with a number of tangible benefits, including:

Path to CFD

Take the first step.
We've curated nine courses to help you on your path to CFD. Use these to develop your skills, build background knowledge, and put what you learn to practice.
Sorted from most relevant to least relevant:

Share

Help others find this page about CFD: by sharing it with your friends and followers:

Reading list

We've selected seven books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in CFD.
Provides an overview of CFD practice in industry, covering topics such as mesh generation, turbulence modeling, and post-processing. It is suitable for practicing engineers.
Provides a detailed introduction to the finite volume method, which widely used technique for solving CFD problems. It is suitable for graduate students and practicing engineers.
Provides an introduction to the finite element method for solving heat transfer and fluid flow problems. It is suitable for graduate students and practicing engineers.
Provides a modern introduction to CFD, covering the fundamental principles, numerical methods, and applications. It is suitable for graduate students and practicing engineers.
Provides an advanced treatment of fluid mechanics, covering topics such as turbulence, boundary layers, and computational methods. It is suitable for graduate students and practicing engineers.
Provides an introduction to direct numerical simulation of turbulence. It is suitable for graduate students and practicing engineers.
Table of Contents
Our mission

OpenCourser helps millions of learners each year. People visit us to learn workspace skills, ace their exams, and nurture their curiosity.

Our extensive catalog contains over 50,000 courses and twice as many books. Browse by search, by topic, or even by career interests. We'll match you to the right resources quickly.

Find this site helpful? Tell a friend about us.

Affiliate disclosure

We're supported by our community of learners. When you purchase or subscribe to courses and programs or purchase books, we may earn a commission from our partners.

Your purchases help us maintain our catalog and keep our servers humming without ads.

Thank you for supporting OpenCourser.

© 2016 - 2025 OpenCourser