  For tidal energy to become an alternative energy resource to fossil fuels
then there needs to be confidence in the predicted performance of horizontal
axis tidal turbine devices. A number of computational fluids dynamics packages
are now available to assist in the design and testing of new devices. The work
in this paper describes a comparative study as a scoping exercise between two
widely used packages, OpenFOAM and ANSYS CFX. The numerical simulations were
run using the same geometry, mesh and turbulence model on both software. The
results were compared to experimental testing conducted at INSEAN. The setup
for each model is detailed. Differences were noted in the running and setup of
the models as well as within the time history of the results. Overall both CFX
and OpenFOAM were shown to give good predictions for the performance
coefficients compared to the experimental testing with the data averaged over
several complete rotations and well when compared to each other.
