Interactive scientific visualization and parallel display techniques

A graphics environment for essentially real-time interactive scientific visualization of computational fluid mechanics is described. A researcher can interactively examine fluid data on a frame buffer with animated flow visualization diagnostics that mimic those in the experimental laboratory. This provides an effective and interactive way to analyze the underlying physical mechanisms and to compare results with laboratory experiment. The system is implemented on a data parallel supercomputer attached to a frame buffer. The fluid diagnostic tools include display of moving color contours for scalar fields, smoke/dye injection of passive particles to identify coherent flow structures, and bubble wire tracers for velocity profiles. The system is demonstrated by analyzing data generated from a numerical simulation of laminar and turbulent flow over a backwards-facing step. Input parameters are menu-driven, and images are updated at nine frame updates/s