Visualization of steep breaking waves and thin spray sheets around a ship

Abstract

The simulation of breaking of waves, the formation of thin spray sheets, and the entertainment of air around the next generation of naval surface combatants is an ongoing 3-year Department of Defense (DoD) Challenge Project. The goal of this project is a validated computation capability to model the full hydrodynamics around a surface combatant including all of the processes that affect mission and performance. Visualization of these large-scale simulations is paramount to understanding the complex physics involved. These simulations produce enormous data sets with both surface and volumetric qualities. Wave breaking, spray sheets, and air entertainment can be visualized using isosurfaces of scalar data. Visualization of quantities such as the vorticity field also provides insight into the dynamics of droplet and bubble formation. This paper documents the techniques used, results obtained, and lessons learned from the visualization of the hydrodynamics of naval vessels.