Illuminating the Wheel Arch

Using an emissive material, you can position light sources beneath the wheel arches and so achieve close-up views of streamlines passing behind the wheels.

Create light sources from emissive material to shine light inside the wheel arches.
  1. To create cylinder shapes from which the light sources are formed:
    1. In the graphics window, switch to the scene, Advanced Rendering Off.
    2. In the simulation tree, right-click Geometry > Parts and select New Shape Part > Cylinder. Set the values as follows:
      • Start Coordinate: 0,0,0 m
      • Cylinder Radius: 0.15 m
      • End Coordinate: 0,0,0.06 m
    3. Click Create followed by Close.
    4. Rename the node Floor Lights Front.
    5. Copy the Floor Lights Front node and paste it onto the Geometry > Parts node; rename the copy Floor Lights Rear.
    6. Right-click the Floor Lights Front node and select Transform > Translate.
      In the Translate Parts dialog, set X to 1.45 m and Y to 0.8 .
    7. Click Apply.
    8. In the same way, translate the Floor Lights Rear node, with X = -1.3 m and Y = 0.8 m.
  2. To define a displayer for the floor lights:
    1. In the graphics window, switch to the scene, Advanced Rendering On.
    2. From the Geometry > Parts folder, drag the Floor Lights Front and Floor Lights Rear nodes into the scene display.
    3. In the Select Displayers dialog, double-click the Surface option in the New Displayers column. In the Input dialog, enter Floor Lights for the displayer name.
    4. Click OK to close the Input and Select Displayers dialogs.
    5. To make the floor light cylinders invisible, switch to the Scene/Plot tab, and set the Opacity property of the Floor Lights displayer to 0.0.
    6. Set the Representation property of the Floor Lights displayer to Geometry.
  3. To define the emissive material for the light, switch to the Simulation tab, then:
    1. Right-click the Tools > Rendering Materials node and select New Rendering Material > Light-Emitting.
    2. Within the Rendering Materials > Light-Emitting node, rename the Light-Emitting 1 node Bright Light.
    3. Select the Bright Light node and set Intensity to 4.
  4. To apply the emissive material, switch to the Scene/Plot tab, then:
    1. Select the Floor Lights node and set Color Mode to Preset Material.
    2. Select the Preset Material child node and set Material to Light Emitting > Bright Light.
  5. In Advanced Rendering On > Attributes > Lights, deactivate the Enabled property of all lights except Light 1.
  6. Set the background color of the scene to Slate Gray Light:
    1. Select the Attributes > Background Color node and set Background Color Mode to Solid.
    2. Select the Background Color > Solid Color node and click (Custom Editor) next to the color.
    3. In the Color dialog, select the HSV tab and specify the following:
      Property Setting
      Hue 210
      Saturation 22
      Value 60
  7. To improve the visibility of the streamlines in the bright light:
    1. Select the Streamlines: Underbody > Advanced Rendering Effects node and activate the Enable Shadows option.
    2. Make the color bar of the Streamlines: Underbody displayer visible.
  8. To shine emissive light into the wheel arches instead of on the wheels and tires:
    1. Multi-select Tires and Wheels, right-click and select Toggle Visibility.
    2. Switch to the Simulation tab, then from the Geometry > Parts > Car Body > Surfaces folder, drag the underbody node into the scene display.
    3. In the Select Displayers dialog, activate the Car Body option in the Existing Displayers column and click OK.
    4. Above the graphics window, click Save-Restore-Select Views and choose Views > +Y > Up +Z.
    5. Pan the scene until the front wheel is positioned around the middle.