An overview of the method of smoothed particle hydrodynamics

The numerical method, SPH, was first developed to model astrophysical problems. It has since been successfully applied to a vast range of problems, including elastic-plastic flow, MHD, incompressible flow and pyroclastic flow, to name a few. SPH is an extremely versatile method, however, the errors in results can sometimes be substantially larger than those obtained using methods specifically tailored for a given problem. There are many problems, though, which can only be practically handled by SPH. Problems where the geometry is highly irregular, or even dynamic, for example, are quite readily handled by SPH. It is hoped that this report will give the reader some insight into the potential of SPH and its limitations. This report is intended to provide an introduction to the method of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics or SPH. SPH is a very versatile, fully Lagrangian, particle based code for solving fluid dynamical problems. Many technical aspects of the method are explained which can then be employed to extend the application of SPH to new problems. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RO 5810(152)+a / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman