Visual simulation of smoke

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we propose a new approach to numerical smoke simulation for computer graphics applications. The method proposed here exploits physics unique to smoke in order to design a numerical method that is both fast and efficient on the relatively coarse grids traditionally used in computer graphics applications (as compared to the much finer grids used in the computational fluid dynamics literature). We use the inviscid Euler equations in our model, since they are usually more appropriate for gas modeling and less computationally intensive than the viscous Navier-Stokes equations used by others. In addition, we introduce a physically consistent vorticity confinement term to model the small scale rolling features characteristic of smoke that are absent on most coarse grid simulations. Our model also correctly handles the inter-action of smoke with moving objects.

References

1. 1.P. Blasi, B. Le Saec, and C. Schlick. A Rendering Algorithm for Discrete Volume Density Objects. Computer Graphics Forum (EUROGRAPHICS 93 Conference Proceedings), 12(3):201-210, 1993.]]
2. 2.S. Chandrasekhar. Radiative Transfer. Dover, New York, 1960.]]
3. 3.A. Chorin. A Numerical Method for Solving Incompressible Viscous Flow Problems. Journal of Computational Physics, 2:12-26, 1967.]]
4. 4.Y. Dobashi, K. Kaneda, T. Okita, and T. Nishita. A Simple, Efficient Method for Realistic Animation of Clouds. In SIG- GRAPH 2000 Conference Proceedings, Annual Conference Series, pages 19-28, July 2000.]]
5. 5.D. S. Ebert and R. E. Parent. Rendering and Animation of Gaseous Phenomena by Combining Fast Volume and Scanline A-buffer Techniques. Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH 90 Conference Proceedings), 24(4):357-366, August 1990.]]
6. 6.N. Foster and D. Metaxas. Realistic Animation of Liquids. Graphical Models and Image Processing, 58(5):471- 483, 1996.]]
7. 7.N. Foster and D. Metaxas. Modeling the Motion of a Hot, Turbulent Gas. In SIGGRAPH 97 Conference Proceedings, Annual Conference Series, pages 181-188, August 1997.]]
8. 8.J. D. Fowley, A. van Dam, S. K. Feiner, and J. F. Hughes. Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice. Second Edition. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1990.]]
9. 9.M. N. Gamito, P. F. Lopes, and M. R. Gomes. Twodimensional Simulation of Gaseous Phenomena Using Vortex Particles. In Proceedings of the 6th Eurographics Workshop on Computer Animation and Simulation, pages 3-15. Springer-Verlag, 1995.]]
10. 10.G. Y. Gardner. Visual Simulation of Clouds. Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH 85 Conference Proceedings), 19(3):297-384, July 1985.]]
11. 11.G. Golub and C. Van Loan. Matrix Computations. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1989.]]
12. 12.H. W. Jensen and P. H. Christensen. Efficient Simulation of Light Transport in Scenes with Participating Media using Photon Maps. In SIGGRAPH 98 Conference Proceedings, Annual Conference Series, pages 311-320, July 1998.]]
13. 13.J. T. Kajiya and B. P. von Herzen. Ray Tracing Volume Densities. Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH 84 Conference Pro-ceedings), 18(3):165-174, July 1984.]]
14. 14.L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz. Fluid Mechanics, 2nd edition. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1998.]]
15. 15.K. Perlin. An Image Synthesizer. Computer Graphics (SIG- GRAPH 85 Conference Proceedings), 19(3):287-296, July 1985.]]
16. 16.G. Sakas. Fast Rendering of Arbitrary Distributed Volume Densities. In F. H. Post and W. Barth, editors, Proceedings of EUROGRAPHICS '90, pages 519-530. Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland), September 1990.]]
17. 17.J. Stam. Stable Fluids. In SIGGRAPH 99 Conference Proceedings, Annual Conference Series, pages 121-128, August 1999.]]
18. 18.J. Stam and E. Fiume. Turbulent Wind Fields for Gaseous Phenomena. In SIGGRAPH 93 Conference Proceedings, Annual Conference Series, pages 369-376, August 1993.]]
19. 19.A. Staniforth and J. Cote. Semi-lagrangian integration schemes for atmospheric models: A review. Monthly Weather Review, 119:2206-2223, 1991.]]
20. 20.J. Steinhoff and D. Underhill. Modification of the euler equations for "vorticity confinement": Application to the computation of interacting vortex rings. Physics of Fluids, 6(8):2738- 2744, 1994.]]
21. 21.L. Yaeger and C. Upson. Combining Physical and Visual Simulation. Creation of the Planet Jupiter for the Film 2010. Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH 86 Conference Proceedings), 20(4):85-93, August 1986.]]
22. 22.G. Yngve, J. O'Brien, and J. Hodgins. Animating explosions. In SIGGRAPH 2000 Conference Proceedings, Annual Conference Series, pages 29-36, July 2000.]]

Index Terms

• Computing methodologies

  • Computer graphics

  • Modeling and simulation

    • Model development and analysis

      • Model verification and validation