preCICE

preCICE is an open-source middleware library designed to enable partitioned multi-physics simulations by coupling independent solvers. It provides a framework to exchange data across different solvers at shared interfaces while helping to maintain stability and accuracy. Common application areas include fluid-structure interaction, conjugate heat transfer, and other multi-physics problems where separate codes advance with different time steps or solvers.

The architecture centers on a core library that communicates with solver-specific adapters. Users link their solvers to preCICE and configure simulations with a project file. The runtime coordinates data exchange and synchronization, typically using MPI for scalable performance. Adapters implement the solver-specific interface to read and write exchanged quantities and to declare the interface geometry. The ecosystem includes adapters for many widely used solvers and can be extended by users.

Key features include data mapping between non-matching meshes to transfer quantities like forces and displacements, and time-step coupling algorithms that support both explicit and implicit schemes. PreCICE offers options for relaxation and damping to improve stability, along with monitoring, logging, and performance profiling. It supports parallel execution, multiple coupling interfaces, and multiple solvers participating in a single coupling scenario.

PreCICE is maintained as open-source software with ongoing development by an international community. It provides extensive documentation, tutorials, and example projects to assist users in building coupled simulations. The tool is cross-platform and widely adopted in academic research and industry for enabling coupled simulations without requiring invasive changes to the underlying solvers. The project hosts a public repository and documentation to support contributor and user engagement.