Ready Mix Concrete Simulation using Altair® EDEM™

PrasadAvilala
PrasadAvilala
Altair Employee
edited October 21 in Altair HyperWorks

Background:

Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) is pre-mixed and consists of a blend of cement, water, aggregates and admixtures manufactured at a cement plant, the mix ensures uniformity and consistency in quality. The production process involves batching, precise mixing, and quick delivery to construction sites, thereby eliminating the need for on-site concrete preparation.

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Problem Statement:

It is always a challenge to deliver uniformity and consistency in the quality of the concrete mixture. To do so there are various variables are to be considered under different designs and operating conditions. Particle flow simulation with Altair® EDEM™  provides a deeper insight into addressing challenges faced by RMC and thereby:

  • Reduces the manufacturing cost
  • Improves the Productivity
  • Reduces the time to market

In this demonstration exercise of Ready Mix Concrete, EDEM is used to understand:

  • Material flow/Mixing
  • Torque/Power required to rotate the Drum
  • Drum and Blade wear

Key Points:

  • The CAD model chosen in the simulation is a generic design, it doesn't represent a real mixer
  • Concrete mixture material properties are chosen from:

Ryu, S., & Woo, H. (2020). Discrete Element Method for Defining the Dynamic Behavior and Abrasion of Gravel in Mixer Trucks during Mixing and Discharging. Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers, 19(12), 34–41. https://doi.org/10.14775/ksmpe.2020.19.12.034

 

Ready Mix Concrete- Simulation Methodology:

The following simulation methodology is adopted for the RMC simulation:

  • Import the Read_MixConcrete.stl, Blade.stl and Factory.stl file
  • Define Bulk material and its Interaction properties
  • Define particle shape, size, and its distribution
  • Define Geometry material and its Interaction properties
  • Define a factory with 8,20,000 particles to be loaded into the drum
  • The drum is rotated with 2 different RPM such as 6 and 14
  • Simulation is carried out for a 23 revolution of the drum in both cases

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Demonstration of Simulation steps:


 

Simulation Results of Case-1(6 RPM Drum Rotation): 


 

Simulation Results of Case-2(14 RPM Drum Rotation): 


 

Simulation Results- Comparison of Case-1 and Case-2: 


 

Summary:

Altair EDEM simulation for Ready Mix Concrete allows to:

  • Understand the material flow under different operating conditions
  • Identify drum and blade wear
  • Find out the torque required to rotate the drum under different operating conditions
  • Increase accuracy compared to traditional approaches
  • Perform virtual repetitive testing – under the same conditions every time
  • Avoid expensive & limiting physical prototyping

Input Files:

To simplify the Ready Mix Concrete learning, the input files and simulation deck are attached

CAD files:

Simulation Files:

 

There are a number of tools to help you get started with this, for example:

If you are looking for further information on EDEM or other Altair products we have plenty more on Altair Community:

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