# Paraview crashing when I use lagrangian particle tracker
**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-crashing-when-i-use-lagrangian-particle-tracker/17345
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Created:** [December 4, 2025, 9:36am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-crashing-when-i-use-lagrangian-particle-tracker/17345 "2025-12-04T09:36:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@gg22](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/gg22)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 9:36am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-crashing-when-i-use-lagrangian-particle-tracker/17345/1 "2025-12-04T09:36:03Z")
Hello everyone,
I am studying a plume impingement and visualizing my openFOAM plume results in paraview (only the last time step of my simulation). Since I wanted to calculate particle path according to the flowfield, also taking forces into account, and trying to do a one way coupling of the
flowfield and ground particles,I am using the lagrangian particle tracker.
However, I am having some issues in that. I am applying the lagrangian seed helper to my case .foam and specified the initial velocity as 0, along with a particle diameter, density, and initial integration time. Then I apply the Lagrangian Particle Tracker, selecting the velocity field as the input flow field and the Seed Helper output as the particle seeds.
The problem is, I can see the particles, but they don’t move…
It might be the initial velocity I put as 0? However, when I switch to flow interpolation, ParaView crashes.
Has anyone encountered this problem before, or does anyone know how I can resolve it?
---
### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 1:00pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-crashing-when-i-use-lagrangian-particle-tracker/17345/2 "2025-12-04T13:00:17Z")
> [@gg22](#):
>
> Since I wanted to calculate particle path according to the flowfield, also taking forces into account, and trying to do a one way coupling of the
> flowfield and ground particles,I am using the lagrangian particle tracker.
Are you sure the stream tracer doesnt fit what you need ? The LPT is very complex to use.
In any case, please share your date.
---
### Author:  [@gg22](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/gg22)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 1:31pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-crashing-when-i-use-lagrangian-particle-tracker/17345/3 "2025-12-04T13:31:21Z")
Thank you for your answer!
I don’t know if stream tracer can be useful for me..I understood that it shows how massless particles move through a vector field, am I correct? While I want to take mass and density into account for the trajectories.
I see it’s a bit complicate and I couldn’t find any tutorials or tips, the only one I found explains what it does in a very general way but probably every case is different and I am doing something wrong which I don’t know…
Anyway, what would I need to share?
---
### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 1:39pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-crashing-when-i-use-lagrangian-particle-tracker/17345/4 "2025-12-04T13:39:13Z")
> [@gg22](#):
>
> , what would I need to share?
Your volume containing the fields, the particle seeds and the surface of interactions if any.
> I couldn’t find any tutorials or tips,
[https://www.kitware.com/vtk-and-paraview-add-highly-configurable-particle-tracker/](https://www.kitware.com/vtk-and-paraview-add-highly-configurable-particle-tracker/)
> [@LagrangianParticleTracker example file](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/lagrangianparticletracker-example-file/571/15):
>
> Hi @otaolafr It’s a plugin, you need to load it. Tools → Plugin Manager → LagrangianParticleTracker I was looking to trace the path that lagrangean particles followed during my simulation that I did in OpenFOAM, I assume that this could be the correct filter? It is not, if you have temporal particle you want to trace lines with, using ParticlePathToPathLines See this webinar: [https://youtu.be/7WMaHXLK6No?si=4E1J2e3nBeCIp86G&t=1916](https://youtu.be/7WMaHXLK6No?si=4E1J2e3nBeCIp86G&t=1916)
---
### Author:  [@gg22](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/gg22)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 2:17pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-crashing-when-i-use-lagrangian-particle-tracker/17345/5 "2025-12-04T14:17:16Z")
Unfortunately, I cannot share the dataset.
My simulation domain is a wedge that models a thruster + a rectangular plume domain. So my idea was to inject particles on the ground surface (like mars ground) and see where they go according to my flowfield. I am releasing the particles with a line source on the ground (but i also tried the cloud) with data from martian regolith, I don’t know if it makes sense for what the filter was designed for.
In case I also tried to inject particles from the inlet and throat of the thruster to see if they move at all but nothing happens.
When I do that, the ParticlesPath shows me the particles on a line while the ParticleInterations is empty (in all the cases i tried).
Also, I saw that website and I undertstand the general procedure, but I am still stuck…
---
### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 2:19pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-crashing-when-i-use-lagrangian-particle-tracker/17345/6 "2025-12-04T14:19:35Z")
> [@gg22](#):
>
> Unfortunately, I cannot share the dataset.
Then you may want to reach out to Kitware for professional support: [Get Support - Kitware Europe](https://www.kitware.eu/get-support/)
---
### Author:  [@gg22](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/gg22)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 2:28pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-crashing-when-i-use-lagrangian-particle-tracker/17345/7 "2025-12-04T14:28:51Z")
alright, thank you anyway!
additionally, i would like to ask you something else if it’s ok. Whenever i apply the filter CleanCellsToGrid with a lot of time steps it crashes. is there an alternative to that or something else I could to to avoid that?
---
### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 2:30pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-crashing-when-i-use-lagrangian-particle-tracker/17345/8 "2025-12-04T14:30:01Z")
Without data to reproduce, I cant really reproduce so i cant suggest alternative because I cant figure out why it is failing.