Accelerating Surface Tension Calculation in SPH via Particle Classification and Monte Carlo Integration

Abstract

Surface tension has a strong influence on the shape of fluid interfaces. We propose a method to calculate the corresponding forces efficiently. In contrast to several previous approaches, we discriminate to this end between surface and non-surface SPH particles. Our method effectively smooths the fluid interface, minimizing its curvature. We make use of an approach inspired by Monte Carlo integration to estimate local normals as well as curvatures, based on which the force can be calculated. The technique is applicable, but not limited to 2D and 3D simulations, and can be coupled with any common SPH formulation. It outperforms prior approaches with regard to total computation time per time step, while being stable and avoiding artifacts.