UFAT-a particle tracer for time-dependent flow fields

Time-dependent (unsteady) flow fields are commonly generated in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations; however, there are very few flow visualization systems that generate particle traces in unsteady flow fields. Most existing systems generate particle traces in time-independent flow fields. A particle tracing system has been developed to generate particle traces in unsteady flow fields. The system was used to visualize several 3D unsteady flow fields from real-world problems, and it has provided useful insights into the time-varying phenomena in the flow fields. The design requirements and the architecture of the system are described. Some examples of particle traces computed by the system are also shown