Install tfel with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• mfm
• mfm-test-generator
• mfront
• mfront-doc
• mfront-query
• mtest
• tfel-check
• tfel-config
• tfel-doc
• tfel-unicode-filt

Project history

TFEL predates many of the Terraform-adjacent tools in this batch. The README states that versions before 0.1 were released under LGPL and CECILL-B, that the 1.x series was developed by CEA within the PLEIADES project, and that since SVN revision 584 TFEL was part of PLEIADES.

From the 2.x series onward, TFEL was publicly released under GPL or CECILL-A licensing, with CEA or EDF retaining the ability to distribute it under specific licensing conditions. The repository README records CEA/DEN copyright for 2006-2013 and CEA/DEN plus EDF R&D copyright for 2014-2025.

The project is tied to academic and industrial numerical mechanics. Its README asks users to cite a 2015 Computers and Mathematics with Applications paper introducing the open-source MFront code generator for mechanical behaviours and material knowledge management in the PLEIADES fuel element modelling platform.

Adoption history

Official documentation positions MFront as a bridge between material-model authors and simulation codes, listing interfaces for finite-element solvers such as Cast3M, Code_Aster, Abaqus Standard, Abaqus Explicit, Zebulon, and FFT solvers such as AMITEX_FFTP.

The Homebrew formula exposes a broad tool suite, including `mfront`, `mtest`, `mfront-doc`, `mfront-query`, `tfel-config`, and related utilities. That packaging makes a research/engineering code generator installable through the same package-manager workflow used for developer CLIs.

How it is used

MFront users write material properties, mechanical behaviours, or point-wise models in domain-specific languages and generate C++ implementations that can be connected to solver interfaces. MTest is used to test local material behaviour by imposing independent constraints on strain or stress components without launching a full finite-element solver.

For package users, the CLI surface matters: `mfront` and `mtest` are the everyday commands, while the documentation and query tools support model inspection, generated documentation, and build integration.

Why package nerds care

TFEL is significant in a package catalog because it is not a small wrapper around another CLI; it is a long-lived scientific toolchain with its own DSLs, generated C++ artifacts, solver integrations, release branches, and licensing history. Its Homebrew presence lets macOS and Linux users install a niche numerical-mechanics stack without building it entirely by hand.

Unlike most formulae named with a `tf` prefix, TFEL has no relation to Terraform. That makes the package historically important to disambiguate in package metadata: it belongs to computational mechanics and materials science, not cloud infrastructure.

Timeline

• 2006-2013: README records CEA/DEN copyright for early TFEL development.
• 2014-2025: README records CEA/DEN and EDF R&D copyright.
• 2015: Official citation paper introduces the open-source MFront code generator.
• 2023: README notes addition of a linking exception clause to the GPL license.
• 2025: Repository page lists TFEL 5.1.0 as the latest official version.

Related projects

• MFront is the central code generator distributed with TFEL.
• MTest is the local material-behaviour test tool distributed with TFEL.
• PLEIADES is the CEA project named in the TFEL licensing/history notes.

Sources

• https://github.com/thelfer/tfel
• https://thelfer.github.io/tfel/web/index.html
• source_facts.executables
• source_facts.package-manager.brew