Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH): A New Feature in LS-DYNA

A new particle element has been added to LS-DYNA. It is based on Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics theory. SPH is a meshless lagrangian numerical technique used to model the fluid equations of motion. SPH has proved to be useful in certain class of problems where large mesh distortions occur such as high velocity impact, crash simulations or compressible fluid dynamics. First, we introduce the basis principles of the SPH method. Then the coupling of this technique to LS-DYNA is presented and the input needed for such analysis is provided.