History of SALOME

The SALOME project started in the early 2000s, based on two industrial needs:

  • Implement a solution to multi-physics problems:
    • gain in efficiency with fast and robust data file generation for the solvers
    • facilitate multi-physics coupling by using calculation schemes within a code coupler
    • make it easy for the user to get started thanks to a unique and homogeneous environment
  • Facilitate the integration of specific calculation solutions:
    • efficiency of pre- and post-processing
    • interoperable numerical simulation codes

As an initiative from OPEN CASCADE, at the time an EADS MATRA DATAVISION company, the first SALOME 1 project started in September 2000 within the French National Network for Research and Innovation in Software Technologies (RNTL). This network was set up at the end of 1999 by the French Ministry of Research and the Ministry of Industry and currently operates as the French National Agency for Research (ANR). Its mission was to encourage the creation of innovative R&D projects between small to large scale companies and public/academic research teams in the field of scientific computing. The SALOME project continued for three years, involving nine partners operating in different sectors.

  • Large enterprises:
    • EDF R&D
    • BUREAU VERITAS (Certification)
  • Small and medium-sized enterprises:
    • OPEN CASCADE (Digital Services)
    • PRINCIPIA R&D (Simulation)
    • CEDRAT (Electromagnetism)
  • Private laboratory:
    • EADS CCR (Joint Research Center)
  • Public laboratories:
    • CEA
    • LIP6 (Computer Science Research Laboratory of Sorbonne University)
    • LEG (Electromagnetism Laboratory of Grenoble)

The SALOME 2 project took over in 2004 for a period of three years, still under the RNTL label. It allowed the production of two industrial versions: SALOME V2 (2004) and SALOME V3 (2006)

Since 2007, the project is co-developed by SALOME’s two historical partners, EDF and CEA. This development takes place with the support of the OpenCascade company (which is now a part of Cap Gemini). Overtime this collaboration allowed the development of the following major versions of SALOME:

  • SALOME 5:
    • development of YACS, the new module of code coupling based on graphs executed by an engine (state machine) separated from its “runtime” implementation.
    • redesign of the graphic user interface of the VISU module. Improvement of the ergonomics of navigation in the results.
    • new notebook in the study.
  • SALOME 6:
    • development of the new visualization module PARAVIS, based on ParaView.
    • development of a new module HEXABLOCK for generating hexahedral meshes.
  • SALOME 7:
    • new module for the management of meshes and numerical fields MEDCoupling, associated with an important library of algorithms.
    • addition of an adaptive mesh functionality, through the integration of the HOMARD module.
  • SALOME 8:
    • development of the FIELDS mesh and field manipulation module (GUI).
    • optimization and extension of the main modules : GEOM, SMESH, MEDCoupling, YACS, PARAVIS.
  • SALOME 9:
    • switch to Python 3.
    • development of the new parametric CAD module SHAPER.