UFAT-a particle tracer for time-dependent flow fields

Abstract

Time-dependent (unsteady) flow fields are commonly generated in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations; however, there are very few flow visualization systems that generate particle traces in unsteady flow fields. Most existing systems generate particle traces in time-independent flow fields. A particle tracing system has been developed to generate particle traces in unsteady flow fields. The system was used to visualize several 3D unsteady flow fields from real-world problems, and it has provided useful insights into the time-varying phenomena in the flow fields. In this paper, the design requirements and the architecture of the system are described. Some examples of particle traces computed by the system are also shown.