Arbitrary Object Destruction in Real-Time
By: Sven Knutson
Supervisor: Gary Brubaker
Masters of Interactive Technology degree conferred December 13, 2008
Thesis / Project completed: December 12, 2008

This thesis explores implementing Finite Element Analysis to simulate different materials in real time as they react to forces and fracture. The model is represented volumetrically by tetrahedrons. Each tetrahedron describes its own functions of stress and strain, the nodes shared across tetrahedrons then make those functions describe the entire object. For each tetrahedron the internal forces acting to deform and separate the element are calculated; once those forces are known, they are decomposed and fractures are created. The mesh is then recreated to reflect the fractures. The end result is a model that behaves similar to the material properties that are defined for it.

The results reflect a more intuitive model for simulating deformation of different materials by simply changing the material properties. Rather than a complex system of springs that would require tuning and adjustment for each material type, the same formulation is used for all materials and only the parameters are changed

Download entire thesis (.pdf)