text: Variational time integrators are derived in the context of discrete mechanical systems. In this area, the governing equations for the motion of the mechanical system are built following two steps: (a) Postulating a discrete action; (b) Computing the stationary value for the discrete action. The former is formulated by considering Lagrangian (or Hamiltonian) systems with the discrete action being constructed through numerical approximations of the action integral. The latter derives the discrete Euler-Lagrange equations whose solutions give the variational time integrator. In this paper, we build variational time integrators in the context of smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). So, we start with a variational formulation of SPH for fluids. Then, we apply the generalized midpoint rule, which depends on a parameter @math , in order to generate the discrete action. Then, the step (b) yields a variational time integration scheme that reduces to a known explicit one if @math but it is implicit otherwise. Hence, we design a fixed point iterative method to approximate the solution and prove its convergence condition. Besides, we show that the obtained discrete Euler-Lagrange equations preserve linear momentum. In the experimental results, we consider artificial viscous as well as boundary interaction effects and simulate a dam breaking set up. We compare the explicit and implicit SPH solutions and analyze momentum conservation of the dam breaking simulations.
  @cite_27: 
  @cite_22: The paper describes the variational formulation of smooth particle hydrodynamics for both fluids and solids applications. The resulting equations treat the continuum as a Hamiltonian system of particles where the constitutive equation of the continuum is represented via an internal energy term. For solids this internal energy is derived from the deformation gradient of the mapping in terms of a hyperelastic strain energy function. In the case of fluids, the internal energy term is a function of the density. Once the internal energy terms are established the equations of motion are developed as equations of Lagrange, where the Lagrangian coordinates are the current positions of the particles. Since the energy terms are independent of rigid body rotations and translations, this formulation ensures the preservation of physical constants of the motion such as linear and angular momentum.
  @cite_17: This paper presents a new variational framework for various existing Smooth Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) techniques and presents a new corrected SPH formulation. The linear and angular momentum preserving properties of SPH formulations are also discussed. The paper will show that in general in order to preserve angular momentum, the SPH equations must correctly evaluate the gradient of a linear velocity field. A corrected algorithm that combines kernel correction with gradient correction is presented. The paper will illustrate the theory presented with several examples relating to simple free surface flows.
summary: On the other hand, traditional SPH formulations for fluids rely on standard conservation equations and a particle framework to discretize the corresponding Navier-Stokes equations, generating models that treat the continuum fluid as a system of particles and recover continuous fields by using interpolation kernels @cite_27 . Variational formulations of SPH for fluid applications have been proposed, where the constitutive equation of the fluid is given by an internal energy term which is a function of the density @cite_17 @cite_22 . These formulations provide a basis to discuss momentum preserving properties of SPH approaches. In this paper, they are used to derive variational time integrators for SPH by computing the discrete action and its stationary point, as we shall see in the next sections.