CFD is moving from specialist tool to core engineering infrastructure

CFD Market Growth in Ten Years

Over the next decade, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is set to grow from a specialist design tool into something much closer to core engineering infrastructure.

Recent market reports estimate the global CFD market at roughly $2–3 billion in 2024, with forecasts suggesting it will at least double – and in some cases almost triple – by the early to mid-2030s, implying compound annual growth rates in the 8–11% range.

CFD software alone is on a similar trajectory: one analysis puts the CFD software segment at $1.7 billion in 2023, rising to around $4.2 billion by 2032, at a CAGR of about 10–11%.

This is not just a story about tool sales; it reflects a broader shift in how companies across energy, aerospace, automotive, electronics, healthcare and the built environment now design, test and operate their systems.

From “nice to have” to design-critical

Historically, CFD sat mainly in R&D groups and niche performance teams. Today, it is moving much closer to:

• early-stage concept selection,

• regulatory and safety cases,

• lifetime performance optimisation, and

• operations support through monitoring and control.

Several factors are pushing this change:

• tighter energy and emissions targets,

• demand for lighter, more efficient components,

• the rise of complex multiphysics (fluid–thermal–structural–chemical), and

• the need to understand behaviour in extreme or hard-to-test conditions.

As a result, more sectors are treating CFD as a routine part of the engineering decision process, rather than an optional extra.

Cloud and subscription reshape how CFD is used

A notable trend in recent reports is the shift towards cloud-based CFD and subscription licensing.

Cloud platforms and on-demand HPC offer:

• access to serious compute power without owning large clusters,

• more flexible scaling for peak projects,

• easier collaboration across distributed teams.

This is opening up CFD to organisations that previously couldn’t justify heavy on-premise infrastructure, and it allows existing users to run larger, more detailed simulations or bigger design sweeps.

AI, GPUs and digital twins enter the picture

The other major shift is technological. CFD is now being tightly coupled with:

• AI and machine learning: used for surrogate models, mesh optimisation, turbulence modelling, and design-space exploration.

• GPU acceleration: enabling much faster turnaround, real-time or near-real-time visualisation, and more interactive workflows.

• Digital twins: where CFD is one of the physics engines behind live, data-connected models of assets and systems.

Vendors and users are experimenting with “simulation digital twins” and “operational CFD” that run in parallel with real plant operation, giving continuous insight into airflow, cooling, combustion, mixing, or environmental dispersion.

What this means for engineering organisations

Taken together, these trends suggest that CFD is:

• becoming more accessible (via cloud and better tooling),

• becoming more embedded in decision-making (not just a back-room analysis),

• becoming more integrated with other digital technologies (AI, twins, controls).

For engineering teams, that raises a few practical questions:

• How do you integrate CFD into your standard design and review process, not just one-off investigations?

• Which problems justify high-fidelity CFD, and where can reduced models or data-driven surrogates be used instead?

• How will you manage validation, uncertainty and safety cases as CFD starts to inform more critical decisions?

• What’s the right balance between in-house capability, external expertise, and cloud platforms?

  
  

Where Mansim sits in this landscape

For context, Mansim operates in the part of this market focused on high-fidelity, high-impact CFD and thermal modelling – typically where:

• physics are too complex for simple correlations or 1D tools,

• results feed directly into investment, safety or regulatory decisions,

• multiphysics coupling (flow, heat, chemical reaction, particles) is essential.

As the market grows and the technology stack evolves, there is likely to be even more interaction between commercial tools, in-house methods, AI, and digital twins. The overall direction is clear: CFD is moving closer to the centre of how modern engineering is conceived, justified and operated. Source: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/computational-fluid-dynamics-market