Interactive visualisation of simulated nonwoven fabrics

The computational simulation of the production of spunbond nonwoven fabrics is a new and emerging field of research. Visualising the outcome of these simulations, large sets of thin randomly oriented fibres, has not yet been scientifically covered. We apply a set of visualisation techniques for the analysis of the simulation data using established methods such as surface reconstruction, parallel coordinates, and colour coding of specific physical fibre properties. Furthermore, we propose a model for realistic rendering of nonwoven fabrics to create a virtual preview of the simulated nonwoven fabric. This is a topic that has not been addressed before. Our model for realistic rendering is based solely on the output of the simulation and relies on existing techniques for realistic rendering of fibrous materials. We use modern programmable graphics hardware to ensure interactive frame rates.