I have recently been looking into using the new FEM tools for a surgery simulation. I really like the way it looks in simulations but for the life of me cannot figure out how to simulate a knife slicing through the material. I was wondering if anyone might have some ideas or insights into the new FEM solver that might help?

Thanks!

Developer Michiel Hagedoorn shows some concepts with this new (2014) Finite Elements masterclass that may be worth investigating:

http://vimeo.com/86125312 [vimeo.com]
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2664&Itemid=132 [sidefx.com]

Thanks for the link. Found a couple things of interest that might help.

I don't have a satisfactory tissue slicing solution to offer, but below are some potential ideas. They all involve clumsily dividing up the source material before converting it into a squishy, wobbly solid.

- Use the volume break sop [sidefx.com] to slice up the polygonal source, then convert the resulting geometry into something squishier:



- Divide the source mesh into two groups using the break [sidefx.com] or cookie sop:



- Pin two slabs of geometry together [sidefx.com] and break the bond as the scalpel object passes through
- Use the paint attributes brush to designate a region of fragility for fracturing [sidefx.com]
- Use a taut cloth as a skin surface with pre-defined tear areas (may not be available in v13.0 [sidefx.com])
- Use a thick, viscous liquid [sidefx.com] as the skin surface
- Interpolate between pre- and post-slice geometry objects with a morph node [sidefx.com]

Here's some slicing that somebody achieved with the wire solver:

[vimeo.com]
http://vimeo.com/81969172 [vimeo.com]