Visualization

The simulation produces binary .dat files which are efficient but not human-readable. Python scripts are provided to parse these files and generate plots and animations.

visualize.py

This script visualizes the output from a single simulation run.

• Usage: python visualize.py <path_to_output_dir>
• Example: python visualize.py output_blended/
• Functionality: Generates an interactive Matplotlib animation of the 2D density cross-section. The title displays the physical time in units of R/c_s.
• Saving: Use the --save_anim flag to save the animation to a video file.

  python visualize.py output_blended/ --save_anim blob_blended.mp4

visualize_comparison.py

This script is designed to create a side-by-side comparison of results from multiple simulation runs (e.g., from different numerical schemes).

• Usage: python visualize_comparison.py --dirs <dir1> <dir2> ...
• Example:

  python visualize_comparison.py --dirs output_centered/ output_upwind/ output_blended/ --save_anim scheme_comparison.mp4

• Functionality: Creates a single animation with multiple subplots, each showing the data from one of the specified directories. All subplots are synchronized by physical time. This is the script used to generate the comparison animations on the Numerical Methods page.