Topologically Clean Distance Fields

Analysis of materials obtained from physical simulations is important in the physical sciences. Our research was motivated by the need to investigate the properties of a simulated porous solid as it is hit by a projectile. This paper describes two techniques for the generation of distance fields containing a minimal number of topological features, and we use them to identify features of the material. We focus on distance fields defined on a volumetric domain considering the distance to a given surface embedded within the domain. Topological features of the field are characterized by its critical points. Our first method begins with a distance field that is computed using a standard approach, and simplifies this field using ideas from Morse theory. We present a procedure for identifying and extracting a feature set through analysis of the MS complex, and apply it to find the invariants in the clean distance field. Our second method proceeds by advancing a front, beginning at the surfac...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: VIS
• Authors: Attila G. Gyulassy, Mark A. Duchaineau, Vijay Natarajan, Valerio Pascucci, Eduardo M. Bringa, Andrew Higginbotham, Bernd Hamann
• Keywords: Clean Distance Field, Clean Distance Fields, IEEE Visualization, Porous Solid Changes, VIS 2007, Visualization