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Free, publicly-accessible full text available February 1, 2026
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We propose the use of PolyPIC transfers [10] to construct a second order accurate discretization of the Navier-Stokes equations within a particle-in-cell framework on MAC grids. We investigate the accuracy of both APIC [16], [17], [8] and quadratic PolyPIC [10] transfers and demonstrate that they are suitable for constructing schemes converging with orders of approximately 1.5 and 2.5 respectively. We combine PolyPIC transfers with BDF-2 time integration and a splitting scheme for pressure and viscosity and demonstrate that the resulting scheme is second order accurate. Prior high order particle-in-cell schemes interpolate accelerations (not velocities) from the grid to particles and rely on moving least squares to transfer particle velocities to the computational grid. The proposed method instead transfers velocities to particles, which avoids the accumulation of noise on particle velocities but requires the polynomial reconstruction to be performed using polynomials that are one degree higher. Since this polynomial reconstruction occurs over the regular grid (rather than irregularly distributed particles), the resulting weighted least squares problem has a fixed sparse structure, can be solved efficiently in closed form, and is independent of particle coverage.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2025
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In this paper we construct a novel discretization of the Cahn-Hilliard equation coupled with the Navier-Stokes equations. The Cahn-Hilliard equation models the separation of a binary mixture. We construct a very simple time integration scheme for simulating the Cahn-Hilliard equation, which is based on splitting the fourth-order equation into two second-order Helmholtz equations. We combine the Cahn-Hilliard equation with the Navier-Stokes equations to simulate phase separation in a two-phase fluid flow in two dimensions. The scheme conserves mass and momentum and exhibits consistency between mass and momentum, allowing it to be used with large density ratios. We introduce a novel discretization of the surface tension force from the phase-field variable that has finite support around the transition region. The model has a parameter that allows it to transition from a smoothed continuum surface force to a fully sharp interface formulation. We show that our method achieves second-order accuracy, and we compare our method to previous work in a variety of experiments.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2025
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Divergence-free vector fields and curl-free vector fields play an important role in many types of problems, including the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, Maxwell's equations, the equations for magnetohydrodynamics, and surface reconstruction. In practice, these fields are often obtained by projection, resulting in a discrete approximation of the continuous field that is discretely divergence-free or discretely curl-free. This field can then be interpolated to non-grid locations, which is required for many algorithms such as particle tracing or semi-Lagrangian advection. This interpolated field will not generally be divergence-free or curl-free in the analytic sense. In this work, we assume these fields are stored on a MAC grid layout and that the divergence and curl operators are discretized using finite differences. This work builds on and extends [39] in multiple ways: (1) we design a divergence-free interpolation scheme that preserves the discrete flux, (2) we adapt the general construction of divergence-free fields into a general construction for curl-free fields, (3) we extend the framework to a more general class of finite difference discretizations, and (4) we use this flexibility to construct fourth-order accurate interpolation schemes for the divergence-free case and the curl-free case. All of the constructions and specific schemes are explicit piecewise polynomials over a local neighborhood.more » « less
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Abstract In this paper we analyze the stability of the explicit material point method (MPM). We focus on PIC, APIC, and CPIC transfers using quadratic and cubic splines in two and three dimensions. We perform a fully three‐dimensional Von Neumann stability analysis to study the behavior within the bulk of a material. This reveals the relationship between the sound speed, CFL number, and actual time step restriction and its dependence on discretization options. We note that boundaries are generally less stable than the interior, with stable time steps generally decreasing until the limit when particles become isolated. We then analyze the stability of a single particle to derive a novel time step restriction that stabilizes simulations at their boundaries. Finally, we show that for explicit MPM with APIC or CPIC transfers, there are pathological cases where growth is observed at arbitrarily small time steps sizes. While these cases do not necessarily pose a problem for practical usage, they do suggest that a guarantee of stability may be theoretically impossible and that necessary but not sufficient time step restrictions may be a necessary and practical compromise.more » « less
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In this paper, we propose a neural network-based approach for learning to represent the behavior of plastic solid materials ranging from rubber and metal to sand and snow. Unlike elastic forces such as spring forces, these plastic forces do not result from the positional gradient of any potential energy, imposing great challenges on the stability and flexibility of their simulation. Our method effectively resolves this issue by learning a generalizable plastic energy whose derivative closely matches the analytical behavior of plastic forces. Our method, for the first time, enables the simulation of a wide range of arbitrary elasticity-plasticity combinations using time step-independent, unconditionally stable optimization-based time integrators. We demonstrate the efficacy of our method by learning and producing challenging 2D and 3D effects of metal, sand, and snow with complex dynamics.more » « less
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