[FLASH-USERS] xflash3 and 3D spherical coordinates

[Klaus Weide]

On Thu, 25 Mar 2010, Massimo Gaspari wrote:

> 
> Hi all,
> I'm trying to plot with xflash3 a chk output created by 
> a simulation in spherical coordinates (r, theta, phi). Does it work?
> (User's guide says that it is supported)

Sorry, I've never tried this.

It should be possible to trick xflash3 into ignoring the geometry
and treat the data as Cartesian (by making some simple change in
xflash3.pro), so you get at least *some* visualization with xflash3.
But again, I have never tried this for 3D spherical.

 
> Another question: have you tested 3D spherical coordinates with any hydro problem?
> Should I avoid them? 

Hydro with 3D spherical coordinates "should" work.  However, we have not 
tested it ourselves and are not using it.  We would welcome any reports on
your experiences.

I say it "should" work because 3D Cartesian as well as 1D and 2D spherical
are know to work, and the 3D spherical case does not add any essentially
new complications to the code.

That was an answer from the code perspective.  If it makes physical sense 
to use spherical coordinates is another question.  Also whether the 
behavior at the poles and especially at the origin are represented well 
enough in those coordinates (without excessive refinement) is open (and 
should depend on your problem). 3D Cartesian may be preferable for such 
reasons.

Klaus