Multidisciplinary Scientific Visualization in European R&D Projects - Visual Computing: Scientific Visualization and Imaging Systems - page 6

Fig. 1.3 Virtual aircraft
M&S software [ 14 ]
visualization and presentation tasks. These tasks are crucial for gaining the thrust and
confidence in the accomplished results across multidisciplinary domains, thus as
''seeing'' visualize them, makes the important missing difference. For example, the
European Software tool CEASIOM [ 14 ] is meant to support engineers in the con-
ceptual design process of the aircraft, with emphasis on the improved prediction of
stability and control properties achieved by higher fidelity methods found in the
contemporary aircraft design tools (Fig. 1.3 ).
1.1.3 Specialized Engineering Tools
Within the virtual aircraft design environment, a Computational Fluid Dynamics
(CFD) engineering tools are found to support the calculation of the aircraft
aerodynamics behavior. An example, with more details, is shown in Fig. 1.4 , for
the wing aerodynamics simulation.
In the mentioned CFD example, the engineering tasks may lead to locate a flow
recirculation area, a region of high turbulence, or the points where the value of
enthalpy reaches its minimum and maximum values. Usually, the goal is not only
to see the flow pattern, but also to understand why and how it develops. The
possibility to apply several visualization tools in an interactive way makes it
possible to uncover the problem under investigation. The exploration of the
numerically generated data leads to the concept of virtual instrument, namely a
software probe that can be interactively manipulated.
SV methods empower engineers/researchers to analyze the same problem in a
variety of ways. They promote the concept of virtual laboratory where the user
performs virtual measurements. These virtual measurements are the results of the
interactive visualization process that the user applies on the analyzed models.
An example is the case for CFView [ 15 ], see Fig. 1.5 , an SV application
developed by the author over the 1988-1998 period, which is today a part of the
''FINE'', NUMECA's engineering environment. Some of the known visualization
applications for CFD and Finite Elements Analysis (FEA) are EnSight from CEI