Soft tissues are usually simulated using the Finite Element Method (FEM), with the Lagrangian approach that is the standard in engineering. In this approach the simulation tracks the position of material points over time. In contrast, in an Eulerian approach the space in which the material moves is discretized, and we track material flowing past points fixed in that space. This Eulerian method is typically used for fluids.
In a series of papers (listed below) and a course presented at SIGGRAPH, we demonstrated that this Eulerian technique is particularly well suited for simulating soft tissues with many contacts and constraints. We showed how it can be generalized to an Eulerian-on-Lagrangian discretization and to simulate musculotendons (1D strands), skin (2D sheets), muscles and fat (3D tissues).
References
- P. Sachdeva, S. Sueda, S. Bradley, M. Fain, D. K. Pai “Biomechanical Simulation and Control of Hands and Tendinous Systems” ACM Transactions on Graphics (Proc. SIGGRAPH), Volume 34, Issue 4, August 2015, Article No. 42. [DOI] [Video]
- Y. Fan, J. Litven, D. K. Pai, “Active Volumetric Musculoskeletal Systems,” ACM Transactions on Graphics (Proc. SIGGRAPH), Volume 33, Issue 4, July 2014, Article No. 152, 9 pages. [DOI] [Video]
- D. Li, S. Sueda, D. R. Neog, D. K. Pai, “Thin Skin Elastodynamics,” ACM Transactions on Graphics (Proc. SIGGRAPH)}, Volume 32, Issue 4, July 2013, 9 pages. [project page] [Video]
- Y. Fan, J. Litven, D. I. W. Levin, D. K. Pai “Eulerian on Lagrangian Simulation,” ACM Transactions on Graphics}, Volume 32 Issue 3, June 2013, Article No. 22, 9 pages. [project page] [Video]
- S. Sueda, G. L. Jones, D. I. W. Levin, and D. K. Pai, “Large-Scale Dynamic Simulation of Highly Constrained Strands,” in ACM Transactions on Graphics (Proc. SIGGRAPH), August 2011. [DOI] [Video]
- D. I. W. Levin, J. Litven, G. L. Jones, S. Sueda, D. K. Pai “Eulerian Solid Simulation with Contact,” in ACM Transactions on Graphics (Proc. SIGGRAPH), August 2011. [DOI][Video]