PhysX 5.0 is now in the pipeline and nvidia will introduce support for a unified constrained particle simulation framework.
Nvidia announced that the finite element model (FEM), industry standard simulation technique for deformable bodies, will be integrated into PhysX 5.0. This type of model is widely used in the automotive and manufacturing industries to accurately simulate the structural strength of rigid and soft assemblies.
For liquid particle simulations, developers will be able to use discrete particle simulations to model fluids and granular flow. The implementation is scalable; large time steps can be used to stably simulate a wide range of liquids. The Discrete Element Model (DEM) provides support for friction and adhesion. PhysX 5.0 it also uses an implementation of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) to simulate liquids with discrete particles, a technique used in oceanography and volcanography.
Elements such as fabrics or ropes can be simulated using the constrained particle model of PhysX 5.0. In fact, the meshes that compose them can be coupled with volume conservation constraints with pressures defined by the application to simulate inflatable shapes. Mesh-based simulations also provide a model to simulate aerodynamic lift and drag. The constraint model supports springs so that it can be used to create mass spring systems. Shape matching provides a mechanism for groups of particles to maintain a rigid structure. This can be used to simulate the approximate dynamics of the rigid body. Furthermore, the rigid structure can be deformed at runtime to implement plastic deformation effects.
It will remain to be seen how GPUs will implement PhysX 5.0 and how video game developers will be able to manage it within future projects.
Further updates will be published following official announcements of Nvidia Developer News.
