Physics support for materials ??

Development Rendering
1

Hi,

I was wondering if the unreal engine is suitable to simulate physics on materials. I’m aware about the physics in modern games like breakable walls and realistic water. But i’m looking for more then just collision detection. My question is if the engine can support new types of materials which can be created with parameters and then have the engine figure out how they interact given a particular force. Think of the following situations:

A) Force on material:

  • Scratching: Given two materials with different hardness can a scratch be simulated?
  • Breaking: In case of pressing two materials (cubes) which one will give in first.
  • Breaking 2: In case of irregular shapes can the engine figure out how the material will break (weakest point)
  • Friction: In case of rubbing two materials is the counter-force calculated?
  • Cutting: Combination of friction + breaking probably.
  • Stretching: How much will it stretch before being torn apart & stretch simulation
  • …

B) Properties of material

  • heat dissipation
  • electrical dissipation
  • …

And the of how A influence B is also interesting. One example of real world use: Simulating needle insertion in 3D tissue
Note is not my webpage and it’s not my field of expertise either.

I understand the unreal engine primary objective is the gaming industry and not scientific simulation. I’m however very curious on were the boundaries lie and possibly with additional extensions to the engine can be used for alternative purposes.

In case someone know other good sources on topic please post them as well. thank you

P.S. was unsure where to post thread, “rendering” seemed most suitable

2

I think you are looking for Physical Materials, they are a data set that can be attached to a material to show how it will be used with physics.

Have a look through here first to see if is what you need: .unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/Physics/PhysicalMaterials/PhysMatUserGuide/index.html

And here for more the Physical Materials Reference: .unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/Physics/PhysicalMaterials/PhysMatReference/index.html

The properties of a material may need to be done in a different way, using particle or heat shimmer materials.

Hope that helps! :slight_smile:

3

There’s general rigid body physics with real-world settings like mass and friction. But for other stuff, like procedural cutting that’s a whole different matter. Those things can get very complicated and the games that have that are usually built up around it as a . There is the Digital Molecular Matter system developed by Lucasarts/ILM that was used for The Force Unleashed, but I don’t think it’s in use anymore.