Case Study: University of California, Irvine achieves rapid flow visualization and new turbulence discoveries with Rogue Wave Software (PV-WAVE)

Visualization and Analysis of Flow Data at the University of California Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department

The University of California, Irvine’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department needed fast, flexible visualization and analysis tools to support graduate research in fluid mechanics. Rogue Wave Software’s PV-WAVE was chosen to give students a visual data analysis environment for creating high-quality images and exploring complex flow datasets.

Using PV-WAVE from Rogue Wave Software, Dr. Haris Catrakis’ students processed GB-sized, time-resolved flow databases and transparently overlaid ~1,000 image slices to reveal a large mixed-fluid region inside the flow interface—leading to a new understanding of turbulence-driven mixing. The solution saved researchers time by rapidly producing publication-quality figures, accelerated dissertation research, and produced insights with broad engineering impact in areas such as propulsion, ocean mixing and atmospheric dynamics.

University of California, Irvine

Haris Catrakis

Associate Professor