Material Models Libraries in EDEM
Altair EmployeeWhen performing Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations a key aspect and challenge is to get suitable material inputs for accurate representation of bulk materials.
With EDEM, users have access to several resources to help them introduce a variety of material models quickly and easily in their simulations.
GENERIC EDEM MATERIAL MODEL (GEMM) DATABASE
The GEMM database contains thousands of pre-calibrated material models representing a wide variety of rocks and ores. It is particularly suited for engineers in the mining, construction and agriculture industries who design heavy equipment handling such materials.
Users only need to answer 3 questions about their real-life material to obtain a suitable material model:
- the size of their application
- the bulk density of the material
- the angle of repose.
Based on this information, the GEMM Database immediately provides them with an EDEM Material Model that contains all the required physics and associated parameter values needed to match the behavior of their real material.
The video below provides a step-by-step example of how to use the GEMM database.
When to use the GEMM database:
- Design of heavy equipment handling rock and ore-like materials
- Early-stage DEM-based design work
- Starting point for more detailed calibration study
- Comparative studies
STARTER PACKS
For more complex materials such as soft cohesive soils and fine powders, EDEM has developed a set of example materials models making use of advanced physics to best represent this type of advanced behavior:
SOILS STARTER PACK
The Soils Starter Pack includes 8 models of soils including different range of compressibility and stickiness. These models make use of advanced physics models inbuilt in EDEM to model a range of soils from gravels to soft compressible soils.
When to use the Soils Starter Pack:
- Design of heavy equipment including off-road construction, agricultural & forestry machinery and vehicles which are handling, or in contact, with soft soils with a particular focus on the vehicle-ground interaction
- Starting point for users to generate a material model to match their own
- A compressible, highly-sticky material such as mud and a free flowing one such as sand
- Read more about the Soils Starter Pack in this article.
POWDERS STARTER PACK
The Powders Starter Pack is designed to be a useful starting point for anyone needing to simulate the complex nature of powders. It consists of a selection of 9 example material models focusing on small particle sizes and representing a range of materials with different flow properties and compressibility.
When to use the Powders Starter Pack:
- Any powder handling application such as mixing, coating, drying and granulation
- Starting point for more detailed calibration study
- Comparison studies: compare the behavior of different powders for instance the mixing of free flowing powder compared to a cohesive poor flowing powder
- Read more about the Powders Starter pack in this article.
The example models from the Starter Packs can be accessed directly from within EDEM and are ready to be used in a simulation.
Comments
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I aim to generate a sand-like particle bed using GEMM material database and run a wheel through it.
Selecting the "small" quantity of material, 1500-2000 kg/m^3 density, and angle of repose 34 degrees gives a choice of 10 materials. However, the particles created are quite large. Each particle is made of 3 connected spheres with radii of 9.5 mm, resulting in the grain size of ~3 cm.
Is there an easy way to generate sand-like particle bed with smaller-size particles?
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It seems the best answer may be the following post from the Altair's community blog:
https://community.altair.com/community?id=community_blog&sys_id=ccdb8aa8db356910cfd5f6a4e296190a
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