CFD post-processing and virtual reality at NASA Glenn Research Center

The computational fluid dynamics research team at NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio uses FieldView eXtreme to improve productivity and increase the value of their work. FieldView eXtreme allows CFD analysts, program managers, outside partners, and visitors to interact with, explore, and fully experience fluid flows in the large-scale immersion of a Fakespace RAVE environment.

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As FieldView is widely used in aerospace, and NASA Glenn is both a research center and a service provider for aerospace contractors, bringing the familiar FieldView interface to an immersive virtual reality environment has tremendous advantages. Individuals and groups from diverse disciplines can explore simulations, reach understanding, and make decisions together, in much less time than with other tools.

In a VR environment, the large scale and deep immersion make it much easier to see and comprehend. Participants can quickly understand the overall flow characteristics of a model, then dynamically move in for further exploration of minute details. Head tracking can be used for even easier and more intuitive navigation not possible when limited to a desktop workstation.

For many NASA CFD practitioners, FieldView's usability and the program's full functionality are a prerequisite for using an immersive environment. FieldView eXtreme allows these engineers to combine the post-processing software they use every day with the awesome visualization power of an immersive VR room environment. The system also supports a wireless tablet PC or similar device. In this configuration, the user interacts with the simulation via the FieldView interface displayed on the tablet. An elegant solution to the problem of menus that block the view of the model or are unnatural to use in three-dimensional space.

Engineers at NASA Glenn and elsewhere continue to push the limits of existing CFD post-processing and visualization tools. Simulations continue to become more and more complex, and datasets continue to increase in size. High performance computing and scalable, parallel graphics systems are now the hardware of choice to solve these big problems. But typical CFD software doesn't take best advantage of these systems or doesn't scale well. In some cases, software limitations force users to restrict a potentially rich, immersive, interactive VR session to simply viewing pre-generated data.

FieldView eXtreme was developed specifically to exploit parallel graphics technology. With this tool, the researchers at NASA Glenn can interactively explore massive models in an immersive environment. Presentations can be scripted or spontaneous. Managers and customers can actively participate in live “what-if” discussions. Scenarios are explored and decisions made rapidly.

Running FieldView eXteme on HPC and VR systems, and FieldView on desktop workstations, brings portability to huge CFD models. Engineers can work in their offices individually, then bring their data to an immersive environment for a collaborative VR session with colleagues, then take the results back to their desktops for further work.