ptapplot

A python library for making pressure tap plots

Click the images to view interactive Plotly visualizations

| Plot Type | Preview | | :--- | :---: | | 2D Line Plot | | | 2D Needle Plot | | | 3D Dot Plot | |

The data for these demos was obtained from https://autocfd.org/

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/PaulENorman/ptapplot.git
cd ptapplot

# Install in editable mode
pip install -e .

Usage Flow

2D Line Plots

1. Source Configuration: Define your vehicle image, physical extents, and CSV tap data in a .json file.
2. Preprocessing: (Optional) Calculate surface normals.
3. Rendering: Generate the interactive HTML Plotly visualization.

# 1. Prepare (Optional if running plot directly)
ptap-2d-prep demo_data/drivAer_lineplot/drivAer_top.json

# 2. Render plot
ptap-2d-plot demo_data/drivAer_lineplot/drivAer_top_complete.json

Note: ptap-2d-plot will automatically trigger the prep step if normals are missing from the configuration.

3D Dot Plots (Geometry Overlay)

1. Source Configuration: Define paths to your STL geometry, tap positions, and results CSVs in a .json file.
2. Rendering: Generate a 3D Plotly scene with side-by-side comparison and synced cameras.

ptap-3d-plot demo_data/drivAer_dotplot/dotplot_config.json

2D Needle Plots

1. Source Configuration: Same as Line Plots (normals auto-generated if missing).
2. Rendering: Generates a plot with individual $C_p$ bars at each tap location.

ptap-needle-plot demo_data/drivAer_needleplot/needleplot_config.json

Needle plots show individual bars instead of a connected line. Positive $C_p$ (pressure) points inward toward the body, negative $C_p$ (suction) points outward. Multiple series are offset perpendicular to the normal for clarity. Note that the needles are more or less normal to the adjacent normal y-axes, not the exact surface at that point (although these are close).