VOLUMETRIC VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR FLUID MECHANICS

This introductory address discusses recently developed techniques for visualization of scalar, vector and tensor volumetric datasets. The approach we advocate is to analyze and then visualize. For vector data, the analysis consists of extracting topological information in the form of critical points and their connecting surfaces. For tensor data we have generalized the concept of stream­lines to hyperstreamlines, which proves useful for analysis and display of fluid mechanics data. These techniques are illustrated with several applications including a coflowing jet and the flow over a hemisphere cylinder.