Description

This SIG brings together researchers from across the UK that use or are interested in applying meshless methods to their fluid dynamics (or related) problems, with a particular emphasis on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). Domains covered by this SIG are varied, ranging from all aspects of engineering through to astrophysics.

Members

L = leader; C = co-leader; * = Other key personnel

Future SIG Events

Please see below for news about future SPH SIG meetings, both virtual and in-person.

Upcoming Events

Next SPH SIG Meeting: 16th September 2025 at the University of Birmingham

The theme is “The Other Side of SPH”, focusing on applications and developments of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics beyond its traditional uses, including unconventional applications, novel numerical techniques, and cross-disciplinary ideas.

If you’d like to attend (and possibly give a talk), please fill in this short registration form:

https://forms.office.com/e/9d2zv3TPxH

Please direct any queries on this event to Dr Alessio Alexiadis (a.alexiadis@bham.ac.uk) or Dr Steven Lind (linds1@cardiff.ac.uk).

The SPH SIG organises regular seminar events where SPH researchers give short talks about various aspects of their use and development of the SPH method. It also organises longer, more in-depth talks called deep-dives which see hour-long lectures from prominent SPH researchers both UK based and international. The SIG's mailing list is handled using an external resource, if you would like to be added to this then please contact Stephen Longshaw. 

Where possible, all SPH SIG talks are recorded and added to our YouTube channel.

SPH SIG Committee

The current committee is as follows:

• Dr Steven Lind (Cardiff University): Chair
• Dr Stephen Longshaw (UKRI-STFC)
• Prof. Benedict Rogers (University of Manchester)
• Dr Thomas Rendall (University of Bristol)
• Dr Tom De Vuyst (University of Hertfordshire)
• Dr Yeaw Chu Lee (University of Plymouth)

This committee is open to expansion, so if you feel you would like to join then please contact the chair.

SIG Event History

SIG meeting 11: Diverse applications of SPH and related particle methods, Thursday 4th July 2024, University of Manchester

This SIG meeting showcased the diversity of SPH, both in method and application. The meeting was a one-day hybrid event at the University of Manchester, organised by Dr Ruofeng Feng, with a range of technical talks as listed below: 

Many thanks to all who participated! 

SIG meeting 10: Hybrid SPH-SIG/CCP-WSI Joint Meeting, 3rd November 2023, Queen’s Building, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Hosted by Dr Tom Rendall (Bristol), the SPH-SIG/CCP-WSI Joint Meeting brought together the SPH UK Fluids Network Special Interest Group and the CCP-WSI and HEC-WSI communities to discuss the latest advances in using meshless methods for fluid structure interaction problems. A selection of talks from the day are available on the SIG YouTube channel.

SIG Meeting 9: Virtual Seminar Series 4, held on 28th September 2022

Organised by Dr Tom De Vuyst, this seminar hosted a range of interesting talks from early-career SPH researchers from across the UK and overseas, covering topics such as fuel jettison, geotechnical and resin flows. 

SIG Deep-dive 4: Recent Advances on Stability, Convergence and Variable Resolution in SPH Schemes - 22nd June 2022

Dr Renato Vacondio gave the fourth SPH SIG deep-dive talk around recent advances on stability, convergence and variable resolution in SPH schemes.

You can view his talk on the SIG YouTube channel.

SIG Deep-dive 3: On Application of the SPH method for modelling fresh concrete flow - 26th January 2022

Dr Sivakumar Kulasegaram gave the third SPH SIG deep-dive talk around application of SPH to modelling fresh concrete flow.

You can view his talk on the SIG YouTube channel.

SIG Deep-dive 2: LABFM - A generalised framework for consistent mesh-free schemes and bridging the gap between SPH and high-order finite difference schemes - 10th October 2021

Dr Jack King gave the second SPH SIG deep-dive talk around the LABFM software, a generalised framework for consistent mesh-free schemes and bridging the gap between SPH and high-order finite difference schemes.

You can view his talk on the SIG YouTube channel.

SIG Deep-dive 1: SPH Method for Astrophysics: Computational Challenges - 25th August 2021

Dr Matthieu Schaller gave the first SPH SIG deep-dive talk around the SPH method for astrophysics and the computational challenges associated with simulating problems with billions of particles on the latest supercomputers. 

You can view his talk on the SIG YouTube channel.

SIG Meeting 8: Virtual Seminar Series 3 - 21st July 2021

The SPH SIG hosted the third in its virtual seminar series on the 21st of July 2021. This was a round-table overview of 5 researchers working on or with SPH. The agenda can be seen below.

All talks were recorded and are available to view via our YouTube channel.

SIG Meeting 7: ExCALIBUR Massively Parallel Particle Hydrodynamics for Engineering and Astrophysics Workshop 1 - 25th February 2021

The SPH SIG hosted its second meeting in its virtual series successfully. This was a focused session looking at perspectives around exascale computing and SPH from six industrial and academic speakers. This event was held in conjunction with the ExCALIBUR design and development working group on Massively Parallel Particle Hydrodynamics. The agenda can be seen below.

Most talks were recorded and are available via our new YouTube channel any future recordings related to the SIG will be made available here.

SIG Meeting 6: Virtual Seminar Series 1 - 25th November 2020

The SPH SIG hosted its first virtual meeting in its new virtual series successfully. This was a round-table overview of 6 early-career researchers working on or with SPH. The agenda can be seen below.

All talks were recorded and are available via our new YouTube channel any future recordings related to the SIG will be made available here.

SIG Meeting 5: The Ogden Centre, Hosted by Durham University - 28th - 29th November 2019

This final meeting of the UK Fluids Network sponsored series saw talks spread over two days from the UK's astrophysics and engineering communities. Both presented the best of the SPH outputs from each community, highlighting achievements of the method to date and where its challenges lie in the future. Download a full report of the meeting here.

SIG Meeting 4: National Structural Integrity Research Centre, Granta Centre, Hosted by Brunel University London - 10th July 2019

This meeting saw the SPH SIG present the current state of the art for SPH modelling, as well vendors of commercial and open-source SPH software describing what it can be practically used for. Download a full report of the meeting here.

A number of presentations given at the meeting have also been released for download by their authors:

• Tom De Vuyst (Brunel University): Application of SPH to solid mechanics problems
• Paul Groenenboom (ESI Group): Industrial simulation of fluid flow and fluid-structure interaction with SPH from the VPS software
• Gareth Lee (Altair): Numerical Simulation as a Tool for EV Development: Multiphase SPH for Powertrain Applications
• Laura Rovira Crespo (Arup Group): SPH Capabilities in LS-DYNA
• Karl Travis (The University of Sheffield): From atoms to the continuum: Use of Molecular Dynamics and SPH for engineering applications

SIG Meeting 3: The Centre for Modelling and Simulation, Hosted by The University of Bristol - 18th December 2018

This meeting saw potential industrial use cases presented to the members of the SPH SIG and also provided a platform for those using SPH for Astrophysics and Computer Graphics applications. Download a full report of the meeting here.

SIG Meeting 2: Hosted by The University of Manchester - 12th April 2018

The second SPH SIG meeting saw SPH presented in terms of practical application areas, with SIG members talking about their individual uses of the SPH method, showing the variety of problems it can be applied to. A full report can be downloaded here.

SIG Meeting 1: Daresbury Laboratory, Hosted by The Science and Technology Facilities Council - 12th July 2017

The first SPH SIG meeting took place at UKRI-STFC's Daresbury Laboratory in Warrington. This was the SIGs klick-off meeting and provided a platform for people to talk about their current research as well as a lively debate on how SIG meetings should be themed going forwards and how the SIG membership can be grown. A full report can be downloaded here.

Upcoming Courses and Workshops in the SPH community

• 2024 SPHERIC Zhuhai International Workshop, Zhuhai, China, Autumn 2024

• 19th International SPHERIC Workshop, Barcelona, Spain, June 2025