Particle tracing in curvilinear grids

David M. Reed; Lawson Wade; Peter G. Carswell; Wayne E. Carlson

doi:10.1117/12.205943

7 April 1995 Particle tracing in curvilinear grids

David M. Reed, Lawson Wade, Peter G. Carswell, Wayne E. Carlson

Proceedings Volume 2410, Visual Data Exploration and Analysis II; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.205943
Event: IS&T/SPIE's Symposium on Electronic Imaging: Science and Technology, 1995, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

Computational fluid dynamics simulations result in large multivariate data sets with information such as pressure, temperature, and velocity available at grid points for a sequence of steps. Velocity data is typically visualized by displaying a particle animation or streamlines. We present an efficient method for calculating particle paths based on velocity data from curvilinear grids. In order to compute the path, a velocity must be determined at arbitrary points inside the grid. We use a tetrahedral decomposition of the curvilinear grid. Each voxel, formed by eight points, is divided into five tetrahedra. The point of intersection of a particle's path and the boundary of a tetrahedron is calculated and look-up tables are used to determine which tetrahedron the particle enters next. The new velocity is computed by interpolating the velocity at the four tetrahedron grid points. Tracing through the tetrahedra eliminates the need for searching through the curvilinear grid and eliminates additional sampling error caused by imposing a regular grid. Using our method, the time to update the position of a particle for a single time step is essentially a constant [O(1)].

Citation Download Citation

David M. Reed, Lawson Wade, Peter G. Carswell, and Wayne E. Carlson "Particle tracing in curvilinear grids", Proc. SPIE 2410, Visual Data Exploration and Analysis II, (7 April 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.205943

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