Fluid : Fluid Viscous

Owned by thomas (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 22 Oct, 2018 by Alex Ribao
3 min read

This is the place where the type of fluid/material is defined together with its properties.

 

 

RealFlow Scene

In RealFlow | Maya it is possible to use multiple "Scene" trees in the same project. To link the fluid to a scene tree right-click on the field, choose "Set Scene", and select an item from the appearing list.

Linked Domains

All fluid, rigid, and elastic containers inside the field will be affected by the fluid currently selected.

  • Connections to other containers have to be established manually by clicking on "Add Object(s)". From the appearing list you can choose other nodes.
  • To break a connection select one or more containers from the "Linked Domains" field and click "Remove Object(s)".
Type

There are six different types of fluids and materials. All types, except "Dumb", are GPU-accelerated:

  • "Dumb” particles are often used for spray or foam. These particles cannot react with each other and do not have the characteristic fluid properties, but they are simulated very fast.
  • "Liquid - SPH" is a very accurate fluid Global.
  • "Liquid - PBD" is a very fast fluid type (faster than “Liquid - SPH”).
  • "Granular" is suitable for substances like sand or snow.
  • "Viscous" fluids are suited for substances like caramel, yogurt, oil, or lava.
  • "Viscoelastic" is the choice of materials such as rubber, caoutchouc, silicone, or "memory foam".

Not all materials are able to interact. For a complete list of possible interactions please visit → this page.

Resolution

With this setting you can change the amount of particles. “Resolution” mainly depends on scene scale and emitter scale, but it also affects the material's mass and therefore depends on “Density”, too:

  • With “Resolution” set to 1.0, a volume of 1 m x 1 m x 1 m contains exactly 1,000 particles.
  • The parameter accepts any positive value.
Density

This parameter is defined as mass per volume unit and is different for each substance. “Density” does not change the fluid's behaviour, but it is possible to mix fluids from different domains. This way you are able to simulate substances like oil and water. The unit is kilograms per cubic metre. The density of water is 1,000 kg/m3. Avoid very small values close to 0, because they can lead to instabilities.

Int Pressure

Internal pressure goes from 0 to 1, and simulates the forces between nearby particles and pushes them apart - this makes the fluid fill a greater volume.

Ext Pressure Scale

This parameter goes from 0 to 1, and tries to limit a fluid’s expansion tendency comparable to atmospheric pressure. Particles tend to "stick" together with higher values.  The substeps and iterations settings in the "Scene" node's → "Global" tab influence how this parameter acts on the fluid.

Tensile strength

Higher settings increase a fluid's tendency to contract and form string-like structures. As a side-effect, the fluid's borders become thicker. "Tensile strength" accepts any value between 0 an 1.

Viscosity

This parameter lets you create substances like cream, chocolate, oil, honey, or tooth paste:

  • “Viscosity” ranges between 0 and 1 and can be animated.
  • To get a more rigid behaviour increase the solver's → substeps (10/10 is a good start) and → iterations.
Cohesion

"Cohesion" is a force of attraction between nearby particles. With particle streams you will get a look similar to toothpaste or thick paint coming out of a tube. Any value between 0 ans 1 is accepted. The substeps and iterations settings in the "Scene" node's → "Global" tab influence how this parameter acts on the particles.

Elasticity

The higher the value, the more "wobbling" effects and stronger bounces you will observe. It is possible counteract these bounces with “Damping”. The parameter accepts any input between 0 and 1.

Damping

Damping smoothens the relative velocities between nearby particles. A small amount of damping helps to stabilize a simulation, while higher values introduce (more) viscosity to the material. The range goes from 0 to 10.

Compute Vorticity

Vorticity channel computation is disabled by default to improve performance. Activate this option before the simulation starts if you need it for → filtering or shading purposes.

Max particles

Please enter a value to stop emission at a certain amount of particles. "Max particles" is based on the total amount of emitted particles. Let's say you have entered "50,000". If there are currently 1,000 particles in your scene, but you have already deleted 49,000 particles RealFlow will stop the emission.