A Streamrunner and Streamcomets for Highly Interactive Visualization of CFD Simulation Data on Versatile, Unstructured Grids

Visualization of CFD simulation data on unstructured, 3D grids poses several challenges. The wide range of real-world data set sizes and the geometric versatility within individual, unstructured CFD simulation models present special challenges to the engineers analyzing flow simulation results. Users also face perceptual problems such as occlusion, visual complexity, lack of directional cues, and lack of depth cues. These perceptual problems combined with the versatility of real-world CFD simulation data models motivates highly interactive and versatile visualization solutions. We present two new integral objects, the streamrunner and streamcomets, that address these challenges. The streamrunner gives the user interactive control over the evolution of streamlines from the seed point until reaching their full length. The streamrunner control minimizes occlusion and visual complexity and maximizes directional and depth cues for flow visualization in 3D. The streamcomet shifts even more interactive control to the user by letting the user control the position of the comet’s head along the integral path, the comet tail length, the diameter of the comet head and tail, and optionally the comet’s animation speed. We also propose the use of the streamrunner and streamcomets for unsteady flow visualization. Combined with our other interactive 3D flow visualization tools, these new integral objects represent two further steps in supplying a strong demand for more interactive visualization solutions for CFD simulation data on complex, unstructured grids.