The lattice-Boltzmann method for simulating gaseous phenomena

We present a physically-based, yet fast and simple method to simulate gaseous phenomena. In our approach, the incompressible Navier-Stokes (NS) equations governing fluid motion have been modeled in a novel way to achieve a realistic animation. We introduce the lattice Boltzmann model (LBM), which simulates the microscopic movement of fluid particles by linear and local rules on a grid of cells so that the macroscopic averaged properties obey the desired NS equations. The LBM is defined on a 2D or 3D discrete lattice, which is used to solve fluid animation based on different boundary conditions. The LBM simulation generates, in real-time, an accurate velocity field and can incorporate an optional temperature field to account for the buoyancy force of hot gas. Because of the linear and regular operations in each local cell of the LBM grid, we implement the computation in commodity texture hardware, further improving the simulation speed. Finally, textured splats are used to add small scale turbulent details, achieving high-quality real-time rendering. Our method can also simulate the physically correct action of stationary or mobile obstacles on gaseous phenomena in real-time, while still maintaining highly plausible visual details.