An Introduction to the Material Point Method using a Case Study from Gas Dynamics

The Material Point Method (MPM) developed by Sulsky and colleagues is currently being used to solve many challenging problems involving large deformations and/or fragementations with considerable success as part of the Uintah code created by the CSAFE project. In order to understand the properties of this method an analysis of the considerable computational properties of MPM is undertaken in the context of model problems from gas dynamics. One aspect of the MPM method in the form used here is shown to have first order accuracy. Computational experiments using particle redistribution are described and show that smooth results with first order accuracy may be obtained.