Wavelet turbulence for fluid simulation

We present a novel wavelet method for the simulation of fluids at high spatial resolution. The algorithm enables large- and smallscale detail to be edited separately, allowing high-resolution detail to be added as a post-processing step. Instead of solving the Navier-Stokes equations over a highly refined mesh, we use the wavelet decomposition of a low-resolution simulation to determine the location and energy characteristics of missing high-frequency components. We then synthesize these missing components using a novel incompressible turbulence function, and provide a method to maintain the temporal coherence of the resulting structures. There is no linear system to solve, so the method parallelizes trivially and requires only a few auxiliary arrays. The method guarantees that the new frequencies will not interfere with existing frequencies, allowing animators to set up a low resolution simulation quickly and later add details without changing the overall fluid motion. CR Categories:...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: TOG
• Authors: Theodore Kim, Nils Thürey, Doug L. James, Markus H. Gross
• Keywords: Low Resolution Simulation, Low-resolution Simulation, Simulation, TOG 2008