Siemens Ends OpenRadioss, Removing Public Repositories for the AGPL Crash-Simulation Solver

Overview

Siemens is ending the OpenRadioss open-source project, according to heise online. The outlet reports that the source code is no longer publicly accessible and that the GitHub organization of the former project no longer shows public repositories. In their place, Siemens is steering users toward its commercial Simcenter Radioss product and a new research program.

What We Know

• The software. OpenRadioss is a finite element solver for highly dynamic processes, which engineers and researchers use, for example, to simulate vehicle crashes, impact loads, or component failures, heise online reports. Altair released the source code as open source in 2022, and Siemens acquired Altair in March 2025, according to the same report.
• Siemens’ framing. On its transition page, Siemens says that “After four years of successful community-driven research, Siemens is entering a new chapter for the Radioss solver.” The company says it is focusing future investment within the Simcenter portfolio, and describes Simcenter Radioss as its industry-proven finite element solver for crashworthiness, impact, occupant safety, drop test and other highly nonlinear simulation applications.
• The replacement for open access. Siemens says it is launching the Simcenter Radioss R&D Program, which it describes as a managed “Shared Source” environment for academic and industrial partners, per the Siemens page. heise online reports that partners get access to the source code and a private HPC environment, but only within the scope of approved joint projects, not as a public open-source project.
• The website. The OpenRadioss website is being retired and visitors are being redirected to the transition page, Siemens states.
• The license. OpenRadioss was released under the GNU AGPL. According to heise online, the disappearance of the repository does not retroactively invalidate already published versions, and anyone who possesses a corresponding copy can continue to use and distribute it under the terms of the license.

What We Don’t Know

• Whether the code returns. heise online says Siemens does not explain whether the source code will be made publicly accessible again elsewhere.
• Whether a fork emerges. The same report notes that a permanently maintained fork would require not only the code but also developers, tests, and maintenance across future versions. No such fork has been confirmed in the sources reviewed for this article.

Context

The change comes shortly after Siemens itself promoted the project’s community. A Siemens event page for an OpenRadioss Users’ Day in Coventry, UK on September 2, 2026 says the OpenRadioss Community “continues to expand globally, uniting experts from academia, research institutions, and industry”.