Drawing Clustered Graphs Using Stress Majorization and Force-Directed Placements

We propose a novel layout algorithm to draw clustered graphs. Our algorithm applies a stress model to draw intra-cluster graphs and a spring-electrical force model to place clusters. Our strategy modifies the original stress model in graph drawing by integrating the force from the center to push and pull the intra-cluster nodes based on their outside connectivity. We also apply the idea of torque equilibrium, coupled with some heuristics, to realize our force-directed placement algorithm. To show the effectiveness of our design, we compare the running time and the number of edge crossings experimentally with the one using full stress majorization as well as other clustered graph drawing algorithms available in the literature. Our experimental results look promising.