Modeling cracks and fractures

This paper presents an interactive method for modeling cracks and fractures over a variety of materials such as glass, metal, wood, and stone. Existing physically based techniques are computationally demanding and lack control over the fracture propagation. Our approach consists in editing 2D fracture pattern and profile curves which are stored in an atlas according to material type. The fracture model is then automatically mapped onto the surface of the object and fractures are created by carving out a procedurally generated swept volume. Because the objects need not be voxelized or tetrahedralized as with physically based techniques, we are not limited in resolution when creating the geometry of cracks, which enables us to model small or very thin fractures.