Parallel Rendering within the Integrated Simulation and Visualization Framework Gridlib

Over the last years, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) research has developed several advanced numeric methods for simulating fluid transport. The models being used have grown considerably in size and so have the computed results. Computer graphics research has developed efficient methods for visualization and rendering, to create images of the computed result that contain significant information. The whole process of using CFD methods in engineering however involves many iterations through the model-simulation-visualization cycle. When using reasonably detailed models, the whole cycle suffers from delays produced by the necessary data conversion and data transport. We have developed a solution to this problem by designing an object-oriented framework for integrating simulation and visualization. Computation routines are free to use the provided grid management interface or can be integrated on a binary level by specifying the expected memory layout to the framework. Both simulation and visualization algorithms can be run on the parallel computer. The rendering subsystem therefore has access to the full grid resolution to produce images of high visual quality.