Case Studies
Pasadena, CA - November 2000
Stephen Wiggins and Chad Coulliette at California Institute
of Technology (Caltech) use the theory of dynamical systems and chaos
to study transport in turbulent flows with organised structures, such
as eddies and jets. The dynamical systems perspective allows them to see
structure within a turbulent flow and to better understand what is causing
the structure.
Normally, we at Amtec take pride in adding order and simplicity
to our customers’ lives. But in this case, we’re delighted to be part
of the chaos.
Stephen Wiggins and Chad Coulliette at California Institute of Technology
(Caltech) use the theory of dynamical systems and chaos to study transport
in turbulent flows with organised structures, such as eddies and jets.
The dynamical systems perspective allows them to see structure within
a turbulent flow and to better understand what is causing the structure.
As a result, the structure itself can become a window to study transport,
rather than assuming structure is noninfluential as many classical approaches
do.
Stephen and Chad have developed the means to apply dynamical systems theory
to any unsteady two-dimensional solenoidal velocity field. They’ve analysed
a model of an oceanic jet, which represents the Gulf Stream. Observing
structure in this flow has led to a better understanding of how and why
transport occurs across the jet; the precise amount of flux across the
jet; and the evolution of specific oceanic phenomena, such as rings, which
are typically found near the Gulf Stream. "People are enthusiastic about
the power of our methods, and there’s a demand for applying them to problems
in oceanographic transport," says Chad.
But life’s tough at the cutting edge. Chad is constantly pushing his tools
to the limit. Constraints imposed by hardware are on the way to being
solved, thanks to Wen Masters and a recent grant from the Office of Naval
Research. Another challenge has been communicating results effectively.
Chad has used Tecplot for years, and thinks it’s great—but it is, after
all, a plotting package. He has needed something that can think, and something
that others can use easily without having to be familiar with the guts
of the modeling code.
The Add-on Developer’s Kit (ADK) in Tecplot offers the flexibility and
power to deliver what Stephen and Chad have wanted.
Stephen and Chad commissioned an Amtec-produced Add-on. The challenges
have been ones of creating "smart" code: code that recognises lobes; tracks
lobes through time, space, and distortion of their shapes; integrates
area; and distinguishes termination points through noise in the data.
The easy part of this project has been the construction of a graphical
user interface for the Add-on, using the Tecplot GUI Builder. The GUI
gives a new user rapid, intuitive access to the Add-on’s features. Chad’s
assessment: "the Add-on is both powerful ... as well as easy to communicate
with."
Stephen and Chad put on a course in August of 1999 that taught students
about transport theory from the viewpoint of dynamical systems theory,
and introduced numerical algorithms. To display the results, students
used Tecplot and the Add-on.
This Add-on, and the power of the ADK, have given Chad all sorts of ideas.
Together, we’re designing a second Add-on that extends both the power
and usability of the first.
The ultimate goal—one that many groups can identify with—is to build a
user interface that operates the basic code (in this case, the dynamical
systems code), so that the code is useful even after the developer who
created it leaves the organisation.
So how does the future look for Tecplot’s ADK and Amtec’s Add-on consulting
services? We’ll let Chad speak for us: "I would be very happy to act as
a reference for future customers who are thinking about employing your
services. I have already passed the word around the Caltech campus about
the success of our endeavor with Amtec."
Apparently, chaos can be a pathway to success.
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