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This page provides a step-by-step guide for creating a gasoline explosion simulation using Chaos Phoenix FD for 3ds Max.

Overview

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This is an Entry Level tutorial which requires no previous knowledge of Phoenix FD. A basic understanding of 3ds Max would be helpful but is not a prerequisite for being able to follow along.

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The instructions on this page guide you through the process of setting up a gasoline explosion simulation in Phoenix FD for 3ds Max. By the end of the tutorial, you will be able to create your own explosion simulations, understand how the simulation interacts with other objects and will know the basics of editing some of the main settings of the Phoenix FD Fire/Smoke Simulator.

To follow the described steps, you will need the Phoenix FDChaos Phoenix for 3ds Max plugin installed. If you notice a major difference between the results shown here and the behavior of your setup, please send an email to support@chaosgroup.com.

This tutorial is a companion to go along with the QuickStart video posted on our YouTube channel.

 

The Download button below provides you with an archive containing the start and end scenes.

 

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titleDownload Project Files
urlhttps://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1c0OX-_mUHIQvr36s49Dscx2QE97494-N
 

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<iframe width="720" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YUcNZ-jT_ek" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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  • The video is created using Phoenix FD 3.0, but the text version of the tutorial is updated and uses Phoenix FD 4.30 Official. In any case of doubt you may refer to the text.
  • Another way to create a Gasoline Explosion is to use the newer and improved version of the Gasoline Explosion Toolbar Quick Setup preset which is included in the Nightly Builds since 16 Sep 2020.

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Scale is crucial for the behavior of any simulation. The real-world size of the Simulator in units is important for the simulation dynamics. Large-scale simulations appear to move more slowly, while mid-to-small scale simulations have lots of vigorous movement. When you create your Simulator, you must check the Grid rollout where the real-world extents of the Simulator are shown. If the size of the Simulator in the scene cannot be changed, you can cheat the solver into working as if the scale is larger or smaller by changing the Scene Scale option in the Grid rollout.

The Phoenix FD solver is not affected by how you choose to view the Display Unit Scale - it is just a matter of convenience.

 

Go to Customize → Units Setup and set Display Unit Scale to Metric Meters.

Also, set the System Units such that 1 Unit equals 1 Meter.

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In the following steps we will show how to create a gasoline explosion simulation with the Phoenix FD Gasoline Phoenix Gasoline Explosion Preset.

After that we will explain how to set the simulation manually step-by-step for greater flexibility and control.

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To enable the GPU Preview as seen in the image above, select the Phoenix FD Simulator → Preview rollout → GPU Preview → Enable in Viewport.

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Let’s take a look at setting up a gasoline explosion simulation manually.

 

If you are continuing from the preset steps above, select the Simulator and press the Delete the Cache Files button from the Phoenix FD Toolbar and then delete the Simulator and the source objects from your scene.

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If the sphere has been deleted, create a new Sphere with a Radius of 24.0 meters.

 

Click on the Create a Fire/Smoke Simulator button in the Phoenix FD Toolbar and click and drag in the viewport to create a volume to encompass the sphere, while leaving some room for the explosion to spread. Move the sphere near the bottom of the Simulator's volume space. Make sure the sphere is still inside the volume.

Open the Grid rollout and set the following values:

  • Scene Scale: 1.0.
  • Cell Size: 1.0 m.
  • Size XYZ: [ 229, 219, 123 ].
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Use the Size attributes of the Simulator as opposed to simply scaling the Simulator container with 3ds Max's Scale tool, as that may adversely affect the simulation.

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Click the Create a Fire/Smoke Source button on the Phoenix FD Toolbar and place the source in your scene.

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The Source object is a 2D non-renderable icon, so size and placement are only important for being able to select the Source when needed.

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With the Fire/Smoke Source object selected, go to the Modify Panel and click the Add button located under the Emitter Nodes list, then select the Sphere.

This way the sphere will be selected as an emitter.

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The Source node is where we control the Emitter properties, like the Emit Mode ant the Outgoing Velocity. The sphere is the actual emitter of the fluid inside the Simulator.

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Within the Fire/Smoke Source menu, we will disable Temperature and Smoke, as they will not be needed for this demonstration. Make sure Fuel is enabled.

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Since we are creating an explosion that will use a large amount of fuel very quickly, we will need to increase the Outgoing Velocity. The higher this number, the more fluid will be generated per second. In order to create the short but powerful burst of fluid, we will animate the Outgoing Velocity number.

Make sure you're at Frame 0, turn on Auto Key, and change the Outgoing Velocity value to 2000.

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Move to Frame 1 and change the Outgoing Velocity to 0.0, then turn off Auto Key.

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Select the Simulator. In the Modify Panel under the Grid rollout are located the parameters to control the resolution of the volume grid, which greatly affects the look and performance of the simulation.

Currently, there are about 6 million Total Cells. To save on simulation time during the iteration process, click Decrease Resolution several times until the Total Cells are around 825,000.


For more information regarding simulation resolution, please refer to the Basic Liquids QuickStart page.

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Click the Start Simulation icon, and notice that the explosion does not happen. Select the Fire/Smoke Simulator and navigate to the Fuel rollout. Select Enable Burning.

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Once again, if you click Start Simulation, you will see that the explosion is still absent. This is due to the Ignition Temperature being set at 600.0. This temperature is rather high. By default, Phoenix FD uses 300.0 as a default ambient temperature. Change the Ignition Temperature to a value slightly lower: 290.0.

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Start the simulation and you will see a puffy preview. To see the explosion more clearly, navigate to the Preview rollout and turn on the GPU Preview by clicking Enable in Viewport.

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Currently, the explosion is being cut off at the top and sides by the Simulator's Grid.

Adjust this in the Grid rollout by turning on Adaptive Grid by Temperature. Lower the Threshold temperature to 600.0 to ensure expansion based on the temperature of the fluid inside when it meets the specified threshold.

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If you experience clipping of your smoke, set adaptive to Smoke with a Threshold of 0.02.

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To prevent the explosion from expanding the bottom, go to Container Walls and select Jammed (-) in the Z axis. This will act as a floor. 

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Start the simulation. The resulting explosion looks very uniform.

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