Soft Matter and Complex Systems Seminar

Physics Engines developed for the gaming and film industry are gaining popularity in recent years among researchers as flexible and efficient tools for simulating multibody dynamics. In this talk, we will present how an open-source Bullet Physics engine was used to create a simplified model of the regolith of the martian moon Phobos. Elements of the Bullet Physics pipeline will be discussed, with a focus on broad phase collision detection algorithms (Axis Sweep and Dynamic Bounding Volumes Tree). We will share experiences from adapting Bullet Physics to create a high-precision simulation of a cone penetration test for a sample consisting of 6000 uniform spherical grains. The efficiency and stability of the model will be analyzed with a focus on sensitivity to internal model parameters and collision detection algorithm used. Resource estimation for upscaling the model to a larger number of bodies will be presented. Bullet Physics will be evaluated in general as a tool for various research applications.

The seminar will be conducted on Zoom
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82784273907