Computer Graphics Physics Simulation

Realistic Fluid Simulation

While I was doing my M.Sc. in Computer Science, I had a great interest in game engines and computer graphics. So I decided to work on something relevant as my graduation project. Eventually, I landed on fluid simulation, which is a fun project but also quite challenging.

Written in C++, the program is essentially a particle system that tries to regulate particles' movements using the Navier-Stokes equation. There are various approaches to achieve it, among which the Divergence-Free Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (DFSPH) is used in this project. Particles are then rendered via a simple OpenGL wrapper, as in the video above.

Using Houdini instead of OpenGL gives a much more realistic rendering by default, as in the picture below.

Houdini render — Rendered in Houdini — much more realistic lighting compared to the OpenGL version.

The fluid can also interact with rigidbody objects.