Interactive visualization of flow fields

Abstract

A technique to visualize S-dimensional flow fields int,eractively is described. The approach seems to represent the motion of the flow better than stat,ic images, and the motion is realtime even on low-t.o-medium range graphics workstations. It is part.icularly appropriat,e for compressible fluid flows, as several features of such flows are represent.ed simultaneously: velocity, density, and energy. The met~hocl works on warped grids, which are common in comput.a.t.io~lal fluid dynamics simulations. The method may be appropriate for other visualization applications involving a combinat.ion of scalar and vector qualit.ies. To achieve interactive speeds for motion representation, two usually unrelated hardware capabilities are utilized: color interpolat,ion and discrete