Advanced Visualization of Crashworthiness Simulations using Virtual Reality Techniques

Regarding the increasing complexity of computer simulations on one hand and the development of computer technology in the last few years on the other hand, the demand on new visualization techniques to analyze the immense amount of data originating from scientific calculations has reached new dimensions. In the case of crashworthiness simulations, expanding the effectiveness of traditional post processing techniques is one key to achieve shorter design cycles and faster time to market. A very promising approach, that benefits from the recent progress in software and hardware technology, is the use of virtual reality techniques. At BMW, in co-operation with the University of Erlangen, we developed the software system VtCrash, that performs a three dimensional visualization and allows the user to observe, enter and manipulate the visualized crash in a virtual environment. A key feature of VtCrash is the possibility, not only to look at the simulation, but also to immerse into a scene th..