Discussion Forum

Hi all,

I am currently trying to put together a simulation that quantifies the displacement of particles after they are mirrored onto a new position. My goal is to calculate the shift in position that occurs betwen the starting image (initial conditions) and resulting image (final conditions).

In order to accomplish this I am currently saving the initial X and Y position of the particles as auxilary variables during particle initiation. After the particle are mirrored to their final location a second auxilary variable is saved that subtracts their terminal, mirrored coordinate from the inital position (i.e. X_init + Z_final and Y_init - Y_final — the mirroring surface lies in the XY plane). These variables are called the x and y displacement and are evaluated for each particle in a table as a particle evaluation in derived values.

I am hoping to plot the final positions of the particles that land on a disc after being mirrored. I was able to produce the subset of particles by creating a Particle dataset and choosing a selection subnode of particles that land on the disc. These I am able to plot using a phase portrait.

My questions are:

Is it possible to plot the final positions and color them accordinating the their total displacement ( sqrt[x_displacement2 + y_displacement2])?

Is there a built in process for summing over all the particle displacements to arrive at a single scalar? I am hoping to run parametric studies that would optimize for the least total displacement in the image.

Are there better methods for calculating and evaluating the particle displacement? For example, can the data be stored without using auxilary variables? Also, are there more efficient means of identifying only the particles that land on the final disc?

I am very grateful for any advice you can provide.

Respectfully, Tyler