Can I count the number of particles sticking to a surface on EDEM?

Question

Hello,

This is in reference to the below link:
https://community.altair.com/community/en/how-to-model-snow-accumulation-on-vehicles-using-edem?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0122342&sys_kb_id=80045c901b276150507ca6442a4bcb75&spa=1

I'd like to know if I can somehow count the number of particles on a particular wall, for example on the roof of the car.

Thanks,
Kiran

Ignacio Diez Alonso (Nacho) · Answer

Hello Kiran,

Depending on at what point you want to do this you could do it in a couple of ways.

If you have a thin layer where the particles are all touching the geometry you are interested on (the roof would need to be an individual geometry for this approach), you could export the results data using a query for contact data> number of contacts > Type 1 your particles & Type 2 your geometry of interest (the roof in this case).

You can also use a geometry bin from the setup selections > add selection > geometry bin and create a box volume of whatever dimensions you want on top of the roof. Then you can either create a query to display the number inside the bin at all times, or export the results with a query for the number of particles in the bin.

One more way and a bit more precise if you want to measure it while a lot of particles are still falling on the vehicle, would be to use the general particle display to display them by velocity. Set the max value to a low velocity, almost 0 so anything that is moving and not sitting static on top of the roof will be considered to be more than the maximum velocity. Activate the hide out of bounds and apply to all. Then create a manual selection with the particles that are left displayed in the area of interest and export a query for the number of particles in your manual selection.

Hopefully this helps.

Kind regards

Ignacio