FieldView

FieldView
Name	FieldView
Developer	Battelle Memorial Institute
Initial release	1990s
Latest release	2020s
Operating system	Microsoft Windows
Genre	Computational fluid dynamics visualization
License	Proprietary

FieldView

FieldView is a commercial post-processing and visualization software package used in computational fluid dynamics for visualization, analysis, and data interrogation. It provides tools for rendering field quantities, generating plots, and preparing results for publications and certification while interfacing with solver outputs from prominent simulation codes. Widely adopted across aerospace, automotive, and energy sectors, FieldView supports workflows for engineers, researchers, and analysts working with large-scale simulation datasets.

Overview

FieldView functions as a post-processor tailored to outputs from CFD solvers such as ANSYS Fluent, STAR-CCM+, OpenFOAM, SU2 (software), and proprietary tools developed at institutions like the NASA Ames Research Center and European Space Agency. It emphasizes scalable visualization for meshes, scalar and vector fields, and derived quantities, enabling tasks like pressure contouring, streamline tracing, and surface integration. The software integrates with high-performance computing resources provided by vendors such as Cray Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and is used alongside mesh generation products like Pointwise and ICEM CFD.

History and Development

FieldView traces its origins to technology developed for aerodynamic analysis at research centers and companies interested in high-fidelity flow visualization. Early adopters included teams at the Boeing Company, Lockheed Martin, and research groups at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology involved in flow visualization for aircraft design. Over time, corporate stewardship and acquisitions connected FieldView with organizations in the defense and commercial aerospace supply chain, intersecting with standards from bodies such as the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and collaborations linked to programs like the ADVENT initiative and turbine projects at Siemens Energy. Development milestones correspond to expansions in mesh size and file formats driven by advances from supercomputing centers, including contributions from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and collaborations with software partners like ParaView-adjacent projects.

Features and Functionality

FieldView provides a suite of visualization functions including iso-surface extraction, clip planes, and particle tracking for unsteady flows, complementing solver diagnostics used in validation campaigns such as those at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It supports large-scale parallel post-processing workflows compatible with message-passing libraries such as Open MPI and visualization pipelines used on clusters from Dell Technologies and Lenovo. Analysis tools enable calculation of integrated forces and moments, vorticity and circulation diagnostics, and time-averaged statistics relevant to certification programs like those overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration. Output formats include high-resolution images and animations for journals like the Journal of Fluid Mechanics and conferences such as the AIAA Aviation Forum.

Applications and Use Cases

Engineers employ FieldView in aircraft aerodynamic assessments for projects at Airbus, Northrop Grumman, and small manufacturers collaborating with research institutions such as Georgia Institute of Technology. Automotive teams at Ford Motor Company and General Motors use FieldView for external aerodynamics and underhood thermal management, often alongside wind tunnel campaigns at facilities like the NASA Glenn Research Center. In energy, developers at General Electric and Siemens apply FieldView to turbine aerodynamics and combustion diagnostics, pairing simulation results with experiments at centers like the Sandia National Laboratories. Academic researchers leverage FieldView for instructional use in courses at universities including Stanford University and University of Cambridge, and for publications presented at venues such as the International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics.

Integration and Compatibility

FieldView integrates with data formats and workflows produced by solvers and meshers associated with institutions and vendors like ANSYS, Inc., CD-adapco (now part of Siemens), and open-source communities around OpenFOAM Foundation. It supports scripting and automation through interfaces compatible with languages and tools used in engineering pipelines such as Python (programming language), MATLAB, and job schedulers like Slurm Workload Manager used at national labs. Interoperability extends to geometric CAD systems from Dassault Systèmes and PTC (company) via neutral formats, facilitating model exchange for multidisciplinary teams working under contracts with organizations such as NASA and the European Commission.

Adoption and Market Impact

FieldView has attained a foothold among aerospace prime contractors, automotive OEMs, and research laboratories, contributing to design cycles at companies such as Boeing, Airbus, Ford Motor Company, and technology centers like Argonne National Laboratory. Its role in post-processing has influenced publication practices in journals like Physics of Fluids and presentation material for conferences including ICCFD (International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics). Market dynamics have seen consolidation and competition from visualization tools such as ParaView and commercial suites from Siemens Digital Industries Software, affecting licensing strategies among suppliers and research institutions. The software’s continued evolution aligns with trends in high-performance computing and multidisciplinary simulation fostered by collaborations among universities, national labs, and industry partners like Microsoft and Amazon Web Services.

Category:Computational fluid dynamics