Graphical modeling and animation of ductile fracture

In this paper, we describe a method for realistically animating ductile fracture in common solid materials such as plastics and metals. The effects that characterize ductile fracture occur due to interaction between plastic yielding and the fracture process. By modeling this interaction, our ductile fracture method can generate realistic motion for a much wider range of materials than could be realized with a purely brittle model. This method directly extends our prior work on brittle fracture [O'Brien and Hodgins, SIGGRAPH 99]. We show that adapting that method to ductile as well as brittle materials requires only a simple to implement modification that is computationally inexpensive. This paper describes this modification and presents results demonstrating some of the effects that may be realized with it.