A contact detection algorithm for superellipsoids based on the common-normal concept

作者：Wellmann Christian^*; Lillie Claudia; Wriggers Peter

来源：Engineering Computations, 2008, 25(5-6): 432-442.

DOI：10.1108/02644400810881374

• computational geometry
• motion

Purpose - The paper aims to introduce an efficient contact detection algorithm for smooth convex particles.
Design/methodology/approach - The contact points of adjacent particles are defined according to the common-normal concept. The problem of contact detection is formulated as 2D unconstrained optimization problem that is solved by a combination of Newton's method and a Levenberg-Marquardt method.
Findings - The contact detection algorithm is efficient in terms of the number of iterations required to reach a high accuracy. In the case of non-penetrating particles, a penetration can be ruled out in the course of the iterative solution before convergence is reached.
Research limitations/implications - The algorithm is only applicable to smooth convex particles, where a bijective relation between the surface points and the surface normals exists.
Originality/value - By a new kind of formulation, the problem of contact detection between 3D particles can be reduced to a 2D unconstrained optimization problem. This formulation enables fast contact exclusions in the case of non-penetrating particles.

• 出版日期2008