Which EDEM particle shape to use ?
Altair Employee
When performing an EDEM simulation you have to choose the base particle shape that will be used to generate thousands or even millions of particles to produce the granular material. In EDEM you can choose between 3 different particle shapes to address different applications:
- Multi-Sphere particles are one of the most popular and versatile EDEM particle shapes. The Multi-Sphere approach provides fast and reliable calculation of contact forces, and allows you to introduce almost any shape into a simulation by adding multiple spheres to a particle. However, keep in mind that very complex Multi-Sphere particles that require large number of spheres can impact simulation time.
- Polyhedral particles are used to address applications that require a specific particle shape, such as flat plates, regular shapes such as cubes, or you can import a custom CAD particle shape. For instance, when simulating tablets. In such cases, the Multi-Sphere method may require large numbers of spheres to represent each particle that can result in an increased computational overhead.
- Sphero-Cylinder particles are used to simulate elongated and flexible particle shapes, to simulate fibrous materials, or to model processes that involve pills or pellets. For these type of applications the Sphero-Cylinder approach will increase performance as fewer particles are required in comparison to using the most popular Multi-Sphere method.
Are you simulating flexible materials ?
Sphero-Cylinder particles are useful for simulating flexible stalks, grasses, and fibrous materials. You have to create a Meta particle that is a group of individual particles bonded together using the Bonding V2 Contact Model. Meta particles are easy to create in EDEM by adding the positions of the Sphero-Cylinder particles that will create the shape of the flexible material. Remember that you can use different particles to create a Meta particle, and you can add a particle size distribution to the Meta particles if required.
Also, if you are simulating equipment moving through a bed of long fibres, there is a new option in EDEM where you can fixed the velocity the particles are generated with. If you would like to learn more about this feature check the eLearning Sphero-Cylinder lesson.
For further information about Sphero-Cylinder particles check the blog post Introducing Sphero-cylinders in EDEM 2022 - EDEM - Altair Products - Altair Support
Check the EDEM eLearning course
The Introduction to EDEM course will guide on how to set up, run and analyze your simulation. The course covers the most popular EDEM tools and it is one of the easiest ways to learn how to use new EDEM features. We are constantly adding new eLearning lessons to show you EDEM 2022 capabilities. If you are interested on Sphero-Cylinder particles check out lesson 4.4 that explains the basics of Sphero-Cylinders particles, Contact Models supported, and how to create Meta particles.