Algorithms for Particle-Field Simulations with Collisions

We develop an efficient algorithm for detecting collisions among a large number of particles moving in a velocity field, when the field itself is possibly coupled to the particle motions. We build on ideas from molecular dynamics simulations and, as a byproduct, give a literature survey of methods f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of computational physics Vol. 172; no. 2; pp. 766 - 807
Main Authors: Sigurgeirsson, Hersir, Stuart, Andrew, Wan, Wing-Lok
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Inc 20.09.2001
Subjects:
collision detection algorithm
complexity
hard sphere molecular dynamics
particle laden flow
fluid suspension
back-coupling
ISSN:0021-9991, 1090-2716
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We develop an efficient algorithm for detecting collisions among a large number of particles moving in a velocity field, when the field itself is possibly coupled to the particle motions. We build on ideas from molecular dynamics simulations and, as a byproduct, give a literature survey of methods for hard sphere molecular dynamics. We analyze the complexity of the algorithm in detail and present several experimental results on performance which corroborate the analysis. An optimal algorithm for collision detection has cost scaling at least like the total number of collisions detected. We argue, both theoretically and experimentally, that with the appropriate parameter choice and when the number of collisions grows with the number of particles at least as fast as for billiards, the algorithm we recommend is optimal.
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ISSN:0021-9991
1090-2716
DOI:10.1006/jcph.2001.6858