Flow Science, Inc. is a developer of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software specializing in the simulation of free surface flows. The company's products are based on the volume of fluid method (VOF), pioneered by founder Dr. C.W. "Tony" Hirt while at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and its proprietary TruVOF® implementation. Flow Science serves industries including water resources engineering, metal casting, additive manufacturing, aerospace, and laser welding.
History
The firm was founded by Dr. C. W. "Tony" Hirt, previously a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Hirt is known for having pioneered the volume of fluid method (VOF) for tracking and locating the free surface or fluid-fluid interface. T HirtNichols, B.D. and Hirt, C.W. “Methods for Calculating Multi-Dimensional Transient Free Surface Flows Past Bodies,” Proceedings First International Conference Numerical Ship Hydrodynamics, Gaithersburg, MD, October 20–23, 1975.Hirt, C.W.; Nichols, B.D. (1981), "Volume of fluid (VOF) method for the dynamics of free boundaries," Journal of Computational Physics 39 (1): 201–225, 1981. left LANL and founded Flow Science in 1980 to develop CFD software for industrial and scientific applications using the VOF method .Bloomberg Business Week, “C. W. Hirt Executive Profile.”
Flow Science is headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The company has grown to include wholly-owned subsidiaries in Germany, Japan, China, India, Latin America, Australia, and the Mediterranean region, as well as a network of independent distribution partners across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.Flow Science Global Distributors In 2024, Flow Science opened an East Coast office in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, offering in-person training and workshops.Flow Science, Inc. About page
In December 2021 the holding company Dr. Flender Holding GmbH, of Aachen, Germany, acquired 100% of Flow Science Inc. shares."Dr. Flender Holding GmbH Acquired Flow Science, Inc. in December 2021," PRWeb, February 2, 2022.
Products
The company's products include FLOW-3D, a general-purpose multiphysics CFD solver specializing in free surface flows including phase change, cavitation, and fluid-structure interaction; FLOW-3D CAST, a simulation platform for metal casting processes including mold filling, solidification, and defect prediction; FLOW-3D AM, a simulation tool for additive manufacturing processes including melt pool dynamics across laser powder bed fusion and directed energy deposition; FLOW-3D WELD, a simulation tool for laser welding processes including keyhole dynamics and melt pool behavior; FLOW-3D HYDRO, a CFD solution for water resources and hydraulic infrastructure engineers including spillway design, sediment transport, and dam safety; FLOW-3D POST, an advanced visualization and analysis tool for all FLOW-3D products, built on ParaView; and FLOW-3D (x), a CFD workflow automation and design optimization tool supporting parametric studies and design of experiments.FLOW-3D software uses a fractional areas/volumes approach called FAVOR™ for defining problem geometry, and a free-gridding technique for mesh generation.Pamela J. Waterman, "Zeroing in on CFD Solutions," Desktop Engineering, August 30, 2009. The software tracks free fluid surfaces using TruVOF®, a proprietary implementation of the volume of fluid method.Flow Science, Inc.
More than 2,500 peer-reviewed papers and technical presentations citing FLOW-3D software products have been published across disciplines including water resources engineering, metal casting, additive manufacturing, laser welding, coastal engineering, and aerospace.FLOW-3D Bibliography, Flow Science, Inc.
Flow Science offers free academic licenses for FLOW-3D, FLOW-3D HYDRO, and FLOW-3D CAST to students, faculty, and post-doctoral researchers at academic institutions worldwide through its FLOW-3D Academic Program.FLOW-3D Academic Program, Flow Science, Inc.
Applications
Water Resources and Environmental Engineering FLOW-3D has been used in peer-reviewed research on energy dissipation in labyrinth weir hydraulics,P. Langohr, D.B. Bung, B.M. Crookston, "Numerical investigation on energy dissipation processes downstream of labyrinth weirs," Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 152.3; 2026. doi.org/10.1061/JHEND8.HYENG-13930 scour protection for sea-crossing bridge foundations,Jian Guo, Bowen Weng, "Experimental and numerical study on scour protection effect for pile foundations of sea-crossing bridges," Physics of Fluids, 38; 015174, 2026. doi.org/10.1063/5.0308611 and reservoir sedimentation and flushing.L. Castillo, J. Carrillo, M. Álvarez, "Complementary methods for determining the sedimentation and flushing in a reservoir," Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 141.11; 2015. doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001050
Metal Casting FLOW-3D CAST has been applied in peer-reviewed research on reducing entrapped slag and reoxidation defects in steel castings,Md Moinuddin Shuvo et al., "An integrated computational and experimental study of vortex chamber performance for reducing entrapped slag and reoxidation defects in steel castings," International Journal of Metalcasting, 2025. doi.org/10.1007/s40962-025-01598-4 transient metal flow and solidification in die casting,Alexandre Reikher, Krishna M. Pillai, "A fast simulation of transient metal flow and solidification in a narrow channel," International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 60; pp. 797-815, 2013. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2012.12.060 and optimization of vacuum die-cast aluminum alloy properties.Zihan Lang et al., "Synergetic optimization of mechanical-thermal matching properties of vacuum die-cast Al-6Si-0.6Mg alloy," Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 1050; 185472, 2026. doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2025.185472
Additive Manufacturing FLOW-3D AM has been used in peer-reviewed research published in Nature Communications on the use of non-contact ultrasound to improve laser additive manufacturing,Jiasen Han et al., "Non-contact ultrasound to assist laser additive manufacturing," Nature Communications, 16; 7613, 2025. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-62803-w dislocation evolution during rapid solidification,Lin Gao et al., "Evolution of dislocations during the rapid solidification in additive manufacturing," Nature Communications, 16; 4696, 2025. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59988-5 and phase and property heterogeneities in additively manufactured titanium alloys.Jingqi Zhang et al., "Designing against phase and property heterogeneities in additively manufactured titanium alloys," Nature Communications, 13; 4660, 2022. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32446-2
Laser Welding FLOW-3D WELD has been applied in peer-reviewed research on melt pool dynamics and pore inhibition in laser wire-filling welding,Chen Liu et al., "Effects of oscillation amplitude and frequency in narrow-gap laser wire-filling welding of Al alloy 5A06 on the melt pool and the mechanism of pore inhibition," International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 221; 110494, 2026. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2025.110494 keyhole stability and porosity in aluminum laser welding,J. Dakka et al., "Influence of beam oscillation on keyhole stability and porosity in aluminum laser welding," Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 342; 118945, 2025. doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2025.118945 and single-crystal-like texture control in laser powder bed fusion of nickel-based superalloys.Fangxiang Zhang et al., "Tailoring single-crystal-like textures in a non-weldable Ni-based superalloy by controlling overlap behavior in laser powder bed fusion," Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 347; 119143, 2026. doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2025.119143
Aerospace FLOW-3D has been used in peer-reviewed research on large-amplitude liquid sloshing in non-axisymmetric spacecraft tanks,Nan Miao et al., "Composite equivalent modeling of large-amplitude liquid sloshing in non-axisymmetric tanks," Physics of Fluids, 37.7; 2025. doi.org/10.1063/5.0267604 propellant sloshing dynamics in nanosatellite design,Michael Fogel et al., "Nanosatellite design considerations for a mission to explore the propellant sloshing problem," Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 2024. doi.org/10.2514/1.A35871 and CFD modeling of propellant management devices in cryogenic tanks during parabolic flights.Jason Hartwig et al., "CFD modeling of bidirectional PMDs inside cryogenic propellant tanks onboard parabolic flights," Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 2023. doi.org/10.2514/1.A35808
Multiphysics FLOW-3D has been applied in peer-reviewed research across a broad range of multiphysics problems, including the effect of substrate conductivity on sessile droplet evaporation,Vahid Bazargan, Boris Stoeber, "Effect of substrate conductivity on the evaporation of small sessile droplets," Physical Review E, 94.3; 033103, 2016. doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.94.033103 the settling behavior of non-spherical particles in fluid,Xiaoyong Cheng et al., "A numerical study of the settling of non-spherical particles in quiescent water," Physics of Fluids, 35.9; 2023. doi.org/10.1063/5.0165555 and precision micro-edge filleting using large-area electron beam irradiation.Togo Shinonaga et al., "Application of large-area electron beam irradiation to micro-edge filleting," Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 107; pp. 65-73, 2023. doi.org/10.1016/j.jmapro.2023.10.039
See also List of computational fluid dynamics software Volume of fluid method Magma (company)
References