Flow visualization

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear
because it has insufficient inline citations.Please help to improve this article
by introducing more precise citations. (April 2009)

A model Cessna with helium-filled bubbles showingpathlines of the wingtip vortices.

Flow visualization or flow visualisation in fluid dynamics is used to make the flow patterns visible,
in order to get qualitative or quantitative information on them.
Contents
[hide]

1 Overview
2 Methods of visualization
3 Application
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Overview[edit]
Flow visualization is the art of making flow patterns visible. Most fluids (air, water, etc.)
are transparent, thus their flow patterns are invisible to us without some special methods to make
them visible.
Historically, such methods included experimental methods, like say spilling ink into water. With the
importance of computer models in all kinds of engineering growing and huge amounts of data
collected from simulating flow processes (e.g. the distribution of air-conditioned air in a new car),
purely computational methods have been developed.

Methods of visualization[edit]

Shadowgram of the turbulent plume of hot air rising from a home-barbecue gas grill. Photograph by Gary S. Settles,
Floviz Inc.

In experimental fluid dynamics, flows are visualized by three methods:

Surface flow visualization: This reveals the flow streamlines in the

limit as a solid surface is approached. Colored oil applied to the
surface of a wind tunnel model provides one example (the oil
responds to the surface shear stress and forms a pattern).
Particle tracer methods: Particles, such as smoke or microspheres,
can be added to a flow to trace the fluid motion. We can illuminate
the particles with a sheet of laser light in order to visualize a slice of
a complicated fluid flow pattern. Assuming that the particles
faithfully follow the streamlines of the flow, we can not only visualize
the flow but also measure its velocity using the particle image
velocimetry or particle tracking velocimetry methods. Particles with
densities that match that of the fluid flow will exhibit the most
accurate visualization.[1]
Optical methods: Some flows reveal their patterns by way of
changes in their optical refractive index. These are visualized by
optical methods known as the shadowgraph, schlieren photography,
and interferometry. More directly, dyes can be added to (usually
liquid) flows to measure concentrations; typically employing the light
attenuation or laser-induced fluorescence techniques.

In scientific visualization flows are visualized with two main methods:

Application[edit]

Analytical methods, that analyse a given flow and show properties

like Streamlines, streaklines, and pathlines. The flow can either be
given in a finite representation or as a smooth function.
Texture advection methods that "bend" textures (or images)
according to the flow. As the image is always finite (the flow though
could be given as a smooth function), these methods will visualize
approximations of the real flow.

In computational fluid dynamics the numerical solution of the governing equations can yield all the
fluid properties in space and time. This overwhelming amount of information must be displayed in a
meaningful form. Thus flow visualization is equally important in computational as in experimental
fluid dynamics.

See also[edit]

Scientific visualization
Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines
Image-based flow visualization
LagrangianEulerian advection
Skin friction lines
Streamlet (scientific visualization)
Streamsurface
Tensor glyph
Texture advection
Vortex core line

Merzkirch, W. (1987). Flow visualization. New York: Academic

Press. ISBN 0-12-491351-2.
Van Dyke, M. (1982). An album of fluid motion. Stanford, CA:
Parabolic Press. ISBN 0-915760-03-7.
Samimy, M.; Breuer, K. S.; Leal, L. G.; Steen, P. H. (2004). A
gallery of fluid motion. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-52182773-6.
Settles, G. S. (2001). Schlieren and shadowgraph techniques:
Visualizing phenomena in transparent media. Berlin: SpringerVerlag. ISBN 3-540-66155-7.
Smits, A. J.; Lim, T. T. (2000). Flow visualization: Techniques and
examples. Imperial College Press. ISBN 1-86094-193-1.

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ http://microspheres.us/fluorescent-microspheres/pivseeding-microparticle-flow-visualization/599.html PIV seeding

particle recommendations

External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Flow
visualization.

Flow visualization techniques.

Flow visualization algorithms.
Gallery of Flow Visualization Examples.
Educational Particle Image Velocimetry (e-PIV) - resources and
demonstrations

Floviz Inc., flow visualization instruments and associated technical

support
[hide]

Visualization of technical information

Fields

Biological data visualization

Chemical imaging
Crime mapping
Data visualization
Educational visualization
Flow visualization
Geovisualization
Information visualization
Mathematical visualization
Medical imaging
Molecular graphics
Product visualization
Scientific visualization
Software visualization
Technical drawing
User interface design
Visual culture
Volume visualization

Image types

Chart
Diagram
Engineering drawing
Graph of a function
Ideogram
Map
Photograph
Pictogram
Plot
Schematic
Statistical graphics
Table
Technical drawings
Technical illustration
User interface

People

Jacques Bertin
Jim Blinn
Stuart Card
Thomas A. DeFanti

Michael Friendly
George Furnas
Nigel Holmes
Alan MacEachren
Jock D. Mackinlay
Michael Maltz
Bruce H. McCormick
Charles Joseph Minard
Gaspard Monge
Otto Neurath
Florence Nightingale
Clifford A. Pickover
William Playfair
Adolphe Quetelet
George G. Robertson
Arthur H. Robinson
Lawrence J. Rosenblum
Ben Shneiderman
Edward Tufte
Fernanda Viegas
Howard Wainer

Related topics

Cartography
Chartjunk
Computer graphics
in computer science
Graph drawing
Graphic design
Graphic organizer
Imaging science
Information graphics
Information science
Mental visualisation
Misleading graph
Neuroimaging
Patent drawing
Scientific modelling
Spatial analysis
Visual analytics
Visual perception

Categories:

Fluid dynamics

Aerodynamics

Navigation menu

Create account

Log in

Article
Talk

Read
Edit
View history
Go

Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article

Donate to Wikipedia
Wikimedia Shop
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia

Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools

What links here

Create a book
Download as PDF

Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item

Cite this page

Print/export

Printable version
Languages
Deutsch

Edit links

This page was last modified on 21 January 2014 at 16:16.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional

terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit
organization.

Privacy policy

About Wikipedia

Disclaimers

Contact Wikipedia

Developers

Mobile view