A discrete geometric approach for simulating the dynamics of thin viscous threads

We present a numerical model for the dynamics of thin viscous threads based on a discrete, Lagrangian formulation of the smooth equations. The model makes use of a condensed set of coordinates, called the centerline/spin representation: the kinematical constraints linking the centerline's tangent to the orientation of the material frame is used to eliminate two out of three degrees of freedom associated with rotations. Based on a description of twist inspired from discrete differential geometry and from variational principles, we build a full-fledged discrete viscous thread model, which includes in particular a discrete representation of the internal viscous stress. Consistency of the discrete model with the classical, smooth equations is established formally in the limit of a vanishing discretization length. The discrete models lends itself naturally to numerical implementation. Our numerical method is validated against reference solutions for steady coiling. The method makes it possible to simulate the unsteady behavior of thin viscous jets in a robust and efficient way, including the combined effects of inertia, stretching, bending, twisting, large rotations and surface tension

Random field sampling for a simplified model of melt-blowing considering turbulent velocity fluctuations

In melt-blowing very thin liquid fiber jets are spun due to high-velocity air streams. In literature there is a clear, unsolved discrepancy between the measured and computed jet attenuation. In this paper we will verify numerically that the turbulent velocity fluctuations causing a random aerodynamic drag on the fiber jets -- that has been neglected so far -- are the crucial effect to close this gap. For this purpose, we model the velocity fluctuations as vector Gaussian random fields on top of a k-epsilon turbulence description and develop an efficient sampling procedure. Taking advantage of the special covariance structure the effort of the sampling is linear in the discretization and makes the realization possible

Finite volume approach for the instationary Cosserat rod model describing the spinning of viscous jets

The spinning of slender viscous jets can be described asymptotically by one-dimensional models that consist of systems of partial and ordinary differential equations. Whereas the well-established string models possess only solutions for certain choices of parameters and set-ups, the more sophisticated rod model that can be considered as $\epsilon$-regularized string is generally applicable. But containing the slenderness ratio $\epsilon$ explicitely in the equations complicates the numerical treatment. In this paper we present the first instationary simulations of a rod in a rotational spinning process for arbitrary parameter ranges with free and fixed jet end, for which the hitherto investigations longed. So we close an existing gap in literature. The numerics is based on a finite volume approach with mixed central, up- and down-winded differences, the time integration is performed by stiff accurate Radau methods

Importance and effectiveness of representing the shapes of Cosserat rods and framed curves as paths in the special Euclidean algebra

We discuss how the shape of a special Cosserat rod can be represented as a path in the special Euclidean algebra. By shape we mean all those geometric features that are invariant under isometries of the three-dimensional ambient space. The representation of the shape as a path in the special Euclidean algebra is intrinsic to the description of the mechanical properties of a rod, since it is given directly in terms of the strain fields that stimulate the elastic response of special Cosserat rods. Moreover, such a representation leads naturally to discretization schemes that avoid the need for the expensive reconstruction of the strains from the discretized placement and for interpolation procedures which introduce some arbitrariness in popular numerical schemes. Given the shape of a rod and the positioning of one of its cross sections, the full placement in the ambient space can be uniquely reconstructed and described by means of a base curve endowed with a material frame. By viewing a geometric curve as a rod with degenerate point-like cross sections, we highlight the essential difference between rods and framed curves, and clarify why the family of relatively parallel adapted frames is not suitable for describing the mechanics of rods but is the appropriate tool for dealing with the geometry of curves.Comment: Revised version; 25 pages; 7 figure

Elastic energy regularization for inverse obstacle scattering problems

By introducing a shape manifold as a solution set to solve inverse obstacle scattering problems we allow the reconstruction of general, not necessarily star-shaped curves. The bending energy is used as a stabilizing term in Tikhonov regularization to gain independence of the parametrization. Moreover, we discuss how self-intersections can be avoided by penalization with the M\"obius energy and prove the regularizing property of our approach as well as convergence rates under variational source conditions. In the second part of the paper the discrete setting is introduced, and we describe a numerical method for finding the minimizer of the Tikhonov functional on a shape-manifold. Numerical examples demonstrate the feasibility of reconstructing non-star-shaped obstacles

Variational Stokes: A Unified Pressure-viscosity Solver for Accurate Viscous Liquids

© ACM, 2017. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Larionov, E., Batty, C., & Bridson, R. (2017). Variational Stokes: A Unified Pressure-viscosity Solver for Accurate Viscous Liquids. ACM Trans. Graph., 36(4), 101:1–101:11. https://doi.org/10.1145/3072959.3073628We propose a novel unsteady Stokes solver for coupled viscous and pressure forces in grid-based liquid animation which yields greater accuracy and visual realism than previously achieved. Modern fluid simulators treat viscosity and pressure in separate solver stages, which reduces accuracy and yields incorrect free surface behavior. Our proposed implicit variational formulation of the Stokes problem leads to a symmetric positive definite linear system that gives properly coupled forces, provides unconditional stability, and treats difficult boundary conditions naturally through simple volume weights. Surface tension and moving solid boundaries are also easily incorporated. Qualitatively, we show that our method recovers the characteristic rope coiling instability of viscous liquids and preserves fine surface details, while previous grid-based schemes do not. Quantitatively, we demonstrate that our method is convergent through grid refinement studies on analytical problems in two dimensions. We conclude by offering practical guidelines for choosing an appropriate viscous solver, based on the scenario to be animated and the computational costs of different methods.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canad