Visual Simulation of Spreading Fire

Visual simulation of fire is used as special effects in movies, applications of fire simulation for the training in disaster prevention. In this paper, we propose techniques for simulating fire spread taking into account the various properties of materials, and for an effective visualization of combustion phenomenon. In our simulation method, the flame dynamics is obtained by combining the Navier-Stokes equations and the heat conduction equation. The various combustion processes are simulated by specifying ignition points, the thermal diffusivity and calorie of chemical reaction depending on the types of materials. Moreover, in our method, fire is extinguished by reducing the fuel concentration. The reduction ratio of the fuel is based on the reaction kinetics theory developed in the field of chemistry. In our fire visualization method, the volume representing the fire is considered as a set of point light sources. The intensity distribution on objects illuminated by the fire is calculated by accumulating the illumination due to the point light sources.