View Results with Flow Lines

A useful way to experimentally visualize flow is to inject a colored die into the stream. As the fluid carries the die downstream, it's possible to observe the flow patterns by watching how the die moves. In a similar manner, flow lines help you to visualize flow patterns, wake formation, and regions of flow circulation.

This video and tutorial describe how to visualize results with Flow Lines. As you watch the video, please follow along in Flow Design. Feel free to pause the video at any time to practice the skill, or simply watch it all the way through and practice with the steps in the tutorial.

Tutorial: Use flow lines to view Results

If you haven't already, start Flow Design and open one of the sample models. We used the car model in the tutorial, but any of the examples will do.

Step 1

Show flow lines by expanding the Plane command, and selecting Flow Lines.

Step 2

Change the flow line style by selecting from the list:

Step 3

Display the flow lines as Lines.

Step 4

Display the flow lines as Tubes.

Step 5

Display the flow lines as Smoke.

Step 6

Display the flow lines as Particles.

Step 7

Customize the appearance of your flow lines by clicking Settings, and using the options on the Flow Line Settings dialog. Experiment with all of the settings to understand their effect on your flow lines.

Step 8

Change the location of flow lines in a 2D simulation by dragging the drag handle to a new position:

You can also use the orientation commands to re-orient the flow line plane:

Step 9

Change the simulation to 3D, and let it run for a few minutes. Notice that flow lines appear throughout the entire wind tunnel.

Focus on a particular region by clicking Settings, and dragging the Seed Box manipulators to modify the seed box:

This is very useful for focusing your view on a particular area of the flow.

Additional Information

For more information about viewing results with flow lines, you can review additional information here.

To learn more about the meaning of flow results, check out the Understanding Results topics.