Visualization of geostress tensor along oil well trajectory

A simple and efficient method is proposed to visualize a symmetric second order tensor along 3D curves. It is also applied to an oil well model in which, along the well trajectory, the spatial distribution of geostress is visualized to predict the stability of the oil well bore. To give visual representations several forms are used: (1) we visually compare the magnitude of stresses to determine the mud weight; (2) based on a set of ellipse cross-sections along the well trajectory and the ellipticity of the ellipse we predict the shear failure direction and the stability of the oil well bore; (3) from a hinged curved surface, we emphasize the direction of principal stresses; (4) to give useful information we apply other skills such as magnified details, animation and an interactive interface. Our method avoids two defects in the references, that is, the visual cluster caused by discrete point tensor glyphs, and the integration problem of the hyperstreamline