filename     : Thue10.pdf
entry        : toappear
conference   : SIGGRAPH 2010, Los Angeles, USA, 25-29 July, 2010
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year         : 2010
month        : July
title        : A Multiscale Approach to Mesh-based Surface Tension Flows
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author       : Nils Thürey, Chris Wojtan, Markus Gross, Greg Turk
booktitle    : Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 2010
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language     : english
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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.