9/11 Attack Animation
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+ We all have watched, how Twin Towers of WTC was brought down by two Planes many times, now engineers are still seeking answers to questions that could save lives in the future with the help of Animation.
Although most People believe they know what brought down the World Trade Center twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, civil engineers are still seeking answers to questions that could save lives in the future. Structural engineers need to know from a scientific perspective what happened to the buildings during the terrorist attacks in order to prevent future failures. The search for answers continues with the help of a state-of-the-art animated visualization created by researchers at Purdue University.
Christoph Hoffmann, a professor of computer science and director of Purdue's Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, a division of Information Technology at Purdue, says the animation reveals more information than could be conveyed through a scientific simulation alone.
Christoph Hoffmann, a professor of computer science and director of Purdue's Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, a division of Information Technology at Purdue, says the animation reveals more information than could be conveyed through a scientific simulation alone.
"Scientific simulations restrict us to showing the things that are absolutely essential to the engineer," Hoffmann says. "This gives us a simulation that doesn't deliver much visual information to a layperson. Our animation takes that scientific model and adds back the visual information required to make it a more effective communication tool."
The scientific simulation, the completion of which was announced last September, required several test runs before the researchers were satisfied; the final test run required more than 80 hours of high-performance computing. The simulation depicts how a plane tore through several stories of the World Trade Center north tower within a half-second and found that the weight of the fuel acted like a flash flood of flaming liquid, knocking out essential structural columns within the building and removing fireproofing insulation from other support structures. The simulation used lines and dots to show the aircraft and building during the event.
To develop the new animated visualization, Voicu Popescu, an assistant professor of computer science, developed a translator application that creates a link between computer simulations and computer visualization systems to automatically translate simulation data into a 3D animation scene. "This translator is scalable and can be used in other simulations," Popescu says.
To develop the new animated visualization, Voicu Popescu, an assistant professor of computer science, developed a translator application that creates a link between computer simulations and computer visualization systems to automatically translate simulation data into a 3D animation scene. "This translator is scalable and can be used in other simulations," Popescu says.
The visualization begins with a Google Earth map of lower Manhattan as it appeared on Sept. 11, 2001. The video then shows the damage caused by the aircraft as it hit the north tower, follows the disintegrating plane through the interior, and then shows the airplane metal, ignited fuel, dust and smoke exiting the building on the opposite side.
Credits:
Writer: Steve Tally, (765) 494-9809, tally@purdue.edu
Sources: Christoph Hoffmann, (765) 494-6185, cmh@cs.purdue.edu
Voicu Popescu, (765) 496-7347, popescu@cs.purdue.edu
Mete Sozen, (765) 494-2186, sozen@purdue.edu
Sources: Christoph Hoffmann, (765) 494-6185, cmh@cs.purdue.edu
Voicu Popescu, (765) 496-7347, popescu@cs.purdue.edu
Mete Sozen, (765) 494-2186, sozen@purdue.edu
Labels: Animation - Vfx, Technology
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