A multiscale approach to mesh-based surface tension flows

  • Authors:
  • Nils Thürey;Chris Wojtan;Markus Gross;Greg Turk

  • Affiliations:
  • ETH Zurich;Georgia Institute of Technology;ETH Zurich;Georgia Institute of Technology

  • Venue:
  • ACM SIGGRAPH 2010 papers
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

We present an approach to simulate flows driven by surface tension based on triangle meshes. Our method consists of two simulation layers: the first layer is an Eulerian method for simulating surface tension forces that is free from typical strict time step constraints. The second simulation layer is a Lagrangian finite element method that simulates sub-grid scale wave details on the fluid surface. The surface wave simulation employs an unconditionally stable, symplectic time integration method that allows for a high propagation speed due to strong surface tension. Our approach can naturally separate the grid- and sub-grid scales based on a volume-preserving mean curvature flow. As our model for the sub-grid dynamics enforces a local conservation of mass, it leads to realistic pinch off and merging effects. In addition to this method for simulating dynamic surface tension effects, we also present an efficient non-oscillatory approximation for capturing damped surface tension behavior. These approaches allow us to efficiently simulate complex phenomena associated with strong surface tension, such as Rayleigh-Plateau instabilities and crown splashes, in a short amount of time.