Spider Web Physics

Orb-weaver spiders build a web from radial "spoke" threads pulling taut against a fixed outer frame, then lay spiral capture threads between them; the whole structure behaves like a tensioned spring network that flexes under wind and the weight of dew without tearing, thanks to silk's high elasticity. This simulation builds that exact graph — a center hub, radial spokes and concentric rings — as point masses connected by springs, and integrates their motion every frame with semi-implicit Euler stepping: per-edge spring forces pull nodes toward each thread's rest length, a spatially-varying sine/cosine wind field pushes unfixed nodes, and velocity damping keeps it stable. Frame and hub nodes stay pinned while dew drops are rendered as instanced physical-material spheres riding a subset of the ring nodes, following the live simulated positions.

Nodes
-
Threads (edges)
-
Technique
Spring-mass, semi-implicit Euler
Stiffness
40.0
Dew drops
-
1.0
40