Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

SPHERIC - SPH European Research Interest Community

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) was developed to study non-axisymmetric phenomena in astrophysics. Yet, a number of developments based on this approach have been launched by various research teams in association with industry. Fields like free-surface flows, where Eulerian methods can be difficult to apply, represent a very high potential of applications (waves, impact on dams, off-shore...) as the mesh free technique facilitates the simulation of highly distorted fluids/bodies. Furthermore, with the ever increasing size and cost reduction of computer clusters, parallel simulations allow large-scale simulations that were previously limited to mainframes.

Following the impulse generated by a collection of local initiatives (France, UK, Italy...), a need of fostering and clustering efforts and developments has been identified. The goal of SPHERIC is indeed to foster the spread of this simulation method within Europe (& abroad). It will form a framework for closer co-operation between research groups working on the subject and serve as a platform for the information exchange from science to industry. One of the most important goals is the assessment of this method for all its possible applications and its development. With an emphasis on validation, it will then be possible to consider transfer of information, and thereby technology, to companies not currently engaged in the technology.

These goals can best be achieved through regular workshops and collaborations. The workshops will be organised to serve the following goals:

• To develop the basic scientific concepts, including parallelism and post-processing methods.
• To communicate the experience in the application of the technology.
• To foster communication between industry and academia.
• To discuss currently available as well as new concepts.
• To give an overview of existing software and methods.

• To define and run benchmark test cases.
  

SPHERIC workshops will not be limited to CFD applications, as one of the goals of the organisation is to benefit from the experience already gained in other areas such as structural mechanics as fluid-structure is one of the natural applications of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics methods.

Please see the official site of the SPHERIC wiki for full information