I've been following the recent news about OpenAI reportedly achieving a major breakthrough related to solving the 3D Navier–Stokes equations, and I'm curious what CFD experts think the practical implications could be.
Assuming the results hold up under scrutiny, how significant is this from a CFD perspective?
A few questions that come to mind:
Could this eventually change how we approach turbulence modeling? Would it have any impact on RANS, LES, or DNS workflows? Is this more of a mathematical breakthrough than an engineering one? Could it lead to new numerical methods or more stable solvers? Are there any realistic short-term implications for industrial CFD, or is this something that would mainly influence theoretical fluid mechanics?
As a chemical engineering student working on CFD and ML for multiphase flows, I'm trying to understand whether this is the kind of development that could reshape the field over the next decade, or whether it's being overstated outside the research community.
I'd be especially interested in hearing from people working in academia, turbulence research, numerical methods, or industrial CFD.
What are your thoughts?
Source: r/CFD · by /u/FormalAd7466