GPU-based 3D texture advection for the visualization of unsteady flow fields

Abstract

We present an interactive visualization approach for the dense representation of unsteady 3D flow fields. The first part of this approach is a GPU-based 3D texture advection scheme that allows a slice of the 3D visual representation to be updated in a single rendering pass. In the second step, the result of the advection process is displayed by texture-based volume rendering. Since both parts are completely supported by the GPU, interactive frame rates are achieved for the visualization of time-dependent flow fields. Moreover, the noise and dye injection scheme of Image Based Flow Visualization (IBFV) is adopted and generalized to take into account a flexible combination of advected and newly injected values. In addition, the advection and rendering methods are extended to transport and display different materials instead of the aggregated colors and opacities. This approach leads to a unified description of noise and dye advection and allows the user to specifically emphasize or blend out regions of the flow.