# A Status Quo Investigation of Large Language Models towards Cost-Effective CFD Automation with OpenFOAMGPT: ChatGPT vs. Qwen vs. Deepseek

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.02888 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.02888/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 18 of its 42 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 2 Apr 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 18 of 18)

- [Efficient Memory Management for Large Language Model Serving with PagedAttention](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.06180/) (2023)
- [PaLM: Scaling Language Modeling with Pathways](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.02311/) (2022)
- [Qwen2.5 Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.15115/) (2024)
- [Recent Advances in Natural Language Processing via Large Pre-Trained Language Models: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.01243/) (2021)
- [Machine Learning for Fluid Mechanics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.11075/) (2019)
- [Enhancing Computational Fluid Dynamics with Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.02085/) (2021)
- [A Review of Large Language Models and Autonomous Agents in Chemistry](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.01603/) (2024)
- [LLM and Simulation as Bilevel Optimizers: A New Paradigm to Advance Physical Scientific Discovery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.09783/) (2024)
- [Prompt a Robot to Walk with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.09969/) (2023)
- [MetaOpenFOAM: an LLM-based multi-agent framework for CFD](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.21320/) (2024)
- [Deep Neural Networks for Data-Driven Turbulence Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.04482/) (2018)
- [The transformative potential of machine learning for experiments in fluid mechanics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.15832/) (2023)
- [Pre-Trained Large Language Models for Industrial Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.03028/) (2023)
- [Cephalo: Multi-Modal Vision-Language Models for Bio-Inspired Materials Analysis and Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.19076/) (2024)
- [Toward Discretization-Consistent Closure Schemes for Large Eddy Simulation Using Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.06260/) (2023)
- [FLUID-LLM: Learning Computational Fluid Dynamics with Spatiotemporal-aware Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.04501/) (2024)
- [Additive-feature-attribution methods: a review on explainable artificial intelligence for fluid dynamics and heat transfer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.11992/) (2024)
- [Training microrobots to swim by a large language model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.00044/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Fine-tuning a Large Language Model for Automating Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.09602/) (2025)
- [ALL-FEM: Agentic Large Language models Fine-tuned for Finite Element Methods](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.21011/) (2026)
- [CFD-copilot: leveraging domain-adapted large language model and model context protocol to enhance simulation automation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.07917/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We evaluated the performance of OpenFOAMGPT incorporating multiple large-language models. Some of the present models efficiently manage different CFD tasks such as adjusting boundary conditions, turbulence models, and solver configurations, although their token cost and stability vary. Locally deployed smaller models like QwQ-32B struggled with generating valid solver files for complex processes. Zero-shot prompting commonly failed in simulations with intricate settings, even for large models. Challenges with boundary conditions and solver keywords stress the requirement for expert supervision, indicating that further development is needed to fully automate specialized CFD simulations.