Animation of reactive fluids

This thesis presents a general method for the integrated computer animation of the shape and shading of multiple reactive fluids in complex environments. This method advances the state of the art in fluid animation in three basic ways. First, it applies to a much larger class of fluid phenomena than previously addressed in computer graphics: both gases and liquids containing chemically reactive species. Second, it integrates a simple yet powerful procedural animation method for modelling both chemical and thermal reactions and their effects on the appearance and behaviour of simulated fluids. Third, and perhaps most significantly, it provides greater control: the desired flow can be specified at any location as well as the degree to which the simulation should be constrained to match it. We use the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible flow as a general model of fluid motion and numerically solve these equations with finite differences on a fixed, uniform grid using techniques adapted from computational fluid dynamics for the specific requirements of computer animation. We illustrate the effectiveness of our method by applying it to a number of scenarios that would be difficult to animate using existing techniques.Science, Faculty ofComputer Science, Department ofGraduat