Optimize OpenFOAM from the Compiler Perspective

OpenFOAM is a widely used open source computational fluid dynamics (CFD) , and the performance of its application is critical for the CFD user, and many researchers try to optimize it from various perspectives. In this paper, we try to optimization OpenFOAM application from the compiler perspective, which is the simplest way to get the optimization affect. We compare two mainstream compilers: Intel compiler icc and an open source compiler, as well as a serious of optimization option flags. Through the experiment, we find that Intel compiler has a much better performance than gcc, which is up to 9.88%, and a suitable combination of the optimization option flags is important to the compile performance.