Skip to content

SU2 Installation and Application Overview

1. Introduction and Application Theory

SU2 is an open-source software suite designed primarily for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and multiphysics simulations. It is widely used in academia and industry for aerodynamic analysis, design optimization, and uncertainty quantification.

1.1 Governing Equations

SU2 solves a variety of partial differential equations, including:

  • Euler equations (inviscid flow)
  • Navier–Stokes equations (viscous flow)
  • Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS)
  • Compressible and incompressible flow equations

These equations are solved using the finite volume method (FVM) on structured and unstructured meshes.

1.2 Numerical Methods

Key numerical features include:

  • Upwind and central discretization schemes
  • Explicit and implicit time integration
  • Multigrid acceleration
  • Turbulence models (Spalart–Allmaras, k–ω, SST)
  • Adjoint-based methods for gradient computation

1.3 Design Optimization and Adjoint Method

One of SU2’s core strengths is its discrete adjoint solver, which enables:

  • Efficient gradient computation
  • Shape and topology optimization
  • Sensitivity analysis with respect to design variables

This makes SU2 particularly suitable for aerodynamic shape optimization problems where traditional finite-difference methods would be computationally expensive.

2. SU2 Installation Guide (Version 8.0.0)

Step 1: Download the source code

Download the SU2 source code from the official Git repository.

Example:
wget https://github.com/su2code/SU2/archive/refs/tags/v8.0.0.tar.gz -O SU2-8.0.0.tar.gz

Step 2: Extract the source files

tar zxf SU2-8.0.0.tar.gz
ls
cd SU2-8.0.0/
ls

Step 3: Minimal requirements

Ensure the following tools are installed:

  • C/C++ compiler (GCC, G++, or Clang)
  • Python 3 (version 3.6 or later)

Note: All additional build tools and dependencies are either included in the source tree or automatically downloaded during the configuration process.

Optional but recommended:

  • MPI library (OpenMPI or MPICH) for parallel simulations
  • CMake

Step 4: Configure the build using Meson

SU2 uses the Meson build system. The configuration script meson.py is located in the root source directory.

Example configuration:

./meson.py build -Denable-autodiff=true --prefix=/home/username/SU2

Optional configuration flags:

  • Enable unit tests:

bash -Denable-tests=true * Enable MPI:

bash -Denable-mpi=true

This step creates the build/ directory and prepares SU2 for compilation.

Step 5: Compile and install SU2

./ninja -C build install

After installation, the SU2 executables and Python modules will be located in:

/home/username/SU2/

Step 6: Set environment variables

To run SU2 from any directory, add the following lines to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc file:

export SU2_HOME=/home/username/SU2
export PATH=$SU2_HOME/bin:$PATH
export PYTHONPATH=$SU2_HOME:$PYTHONPATH

Apply the changes:

source ~/.bashrc

Verify the installation:

which SU2_CFD
SU2_CFD --help

Step 7: Run sample tutorial cases

The tutorial cases are located in:

SU2-8.0.0/Tutorials/

Example test case:

cd Tutorials/incompressible_flow/channel
SU2_CFD channel.cfg

3. Notes and Troubleshooting

  • Ensure Python 3 is used:

bash python3 --version * For parallel execution:

bash mpirun -np 4 SU2_CFD config.cfg * If executables are not found, recheck the PATH variable.

4. References

```