Since we're designing HVAC equipment, we don't need the most cutting edge platform out there or super small mesh sizes.
Cost is a concern, as are user interface, product support, hardware requirements, the ability to get dependable results, and the ease of learning the software (and the ease learning CFD in general). We use Solidworks (mostly sheet metal) for our designs, which we're fairly fluent in for our purposes. No one on our small team has experience with CFD yet. We're looking to shorten our new product development cycles using CFD. I'm part of the Design Engineering team at a small HVAC manufacturer.
