FEM library for realtime app

Question

Do you know any library for Finite Element Method, that i can use for realtime application ? I think about getFEM++, but I don't test it yet.
I want to use FEM to simulate behaviour of elasto-plastic body in realtime. My further plan is to merge it with Bullet.

Spiegelman

Realtime application is not specific enough. If you want help, you need to provide more details. We can't read your mind. Well, I can't anyway! – Librettist

What kind of realtime restriction do you have? Is the time of computation limited? – Gunflint

Elasto-plastic body stuff is some of the most involved and computationally expensive simulations. What kind of problem do you want to solve? How many degrees of freedom? How well do you want to solve? How much computing power do you have available? – Deductible

Answer 1

You should try to specify the kind of problems you are trying to solve in order to select the best library for you.

• How many dimensions for your problem?
• Do you plan on doing collision detection?
• How many vertices will compose your objects?
• Do you plan on using parallelism to achieve real-time computations?
• Do you plan on doing spectral analysis for a dynamical system or just study local deformations with a quasistatic system?
• etc.

Concerning the available libraries, I have mostly used homemade ones, but here are some that you might be able to use:

• [GetFEM++] : C++ library, documentation and tutorials available. It seems you already know this one.
• [LifeV] : I know some people who use this for fluid dynamics, but it works for structure dynamics too. It is developed by several major research institutions.
• [OFELI] : another C++ library but it may lack tutorials.

Moreover, are you sure that what you need is not already present in the Bullet library? Soft body dynamics is already a part of Bullet... (Video here)

Ursal