Water Animation using Coupled SPH and Wave Equations

This thesis project addresses the need for an interactive, real-time water animation tech-
nique that can showcase visually convincing effects such as splashes and breaking waves while
being computationally inexpensive. Our method couples SPH and wave equations in a one-
way manner to simulate the behavior of water in real-time, leveraging OpenGL’s Compute
Shaders for interactive performance and a novel Uniform Grid implementation. Through a
review of related literature on real-time simulation methods of fluids, and water animation,
this thesis presents a feasible algorithm, animations to showcase interesting water effects,
and a comparison of computational costs between SPH, wave equations, and the coupled
approach. The program renders a water body with a planar surface and discrete particles.
This project aims to provide a solution that can meet the needs of various water animation
use-cases, such as games, and movies, by offering a computationally efficient technique that
can animate water to behave plausibly and showcase essential effects in real-time.