Flow Visualization of CFD Using Graphics Workstations

摘要

High performance graphics workstations are used to visualize the fluid flow dynamics obtained from supercomputer solutions of computational fluid dynamic program. THe visualizations can be done independently on the workstation or while the workstation is connected to the supercomputer in a distributed computing mode. In the distributed mode, the supercomputer interactivel performs the computationally intensive graphic rendering tasks while the workstation performs the viewing tasks. A major advantage of the workstation is that the viewers can interactively change their viewing position while watching the dynamics of the flow fields. An overview of the computer hardware and software required to create these displays is presented. For complex scenes the workstation cannot create the displays fast enough for good motion analysis. For these cases, the animation sequences are recorded on video tape or 16mm film a frame at a time and played back it the desired speed. The additional software and hardware required to create these video tapes or 16mm movies are also described. Photographs illustrating current visualization techniques are discussed. Examples of the use of the workstations for flow visualization through animation are available on video tape.