EDEM Creator - Set up the Model

Learn how to set up a simulation model and equipment, and define the generation of bulk materials using EDEM Creator.

To set up the model:
  1. Select the units of measurement to be used throughout EDEM.
    For more information about how to select units, see Select Units.
    1. Click Tools > Options... and then select the Units tab.
    2. In the Units tab, change the following measurement units:
      • Angle to degrees (deg)
      • Angular velocity to rpm
      • Length to mm
    3. Click OK.
  2. Specify a title and description for the model.
    1. Click Project in the Creator Tree.
    2. In the Detailed View, specify a title (Screw Auger Model).
    3. Enter a description in the Description field.
    The model title and description is displayed in the Data Browser window. You can close the Data Browser window to allocate more space for the windows that will be used throughout this tutorial. If required, you can open the Data Browser window again by right-clicking the menu bar and selecting Data Browser.

Define the Bulk Material

The first step in setting up the model is to add bulk material and bulk material particle shapes to a model and define their interactions.

To define the bulk material:
  1. Add the bulk material.
    1. Right-click Bulk Material in the Creator Tree, select Add Bulk Material , and enter the name Particle Material in the BulkMaterial1 highlighted field. Alternatively, you can also use the icons in the Toolbar.
  2. Define the bulk material properties and interactions.
    1. Select Particle Material in the Bulk Material section.


    2. In the Particle Material Properties dialog box, specify the Poisson's Ratio, Solids Density, and Shear Modulus.
  3. Define the bulk material interactions.
    1. In the Interactions section, click the icon.
    2. In the Select Material dialog box, select Particle Material from the dropdown list to define the interaction between all elements made of the material 'Particle Material'.
    3. Specify the Coefficients as follows:

  4. Create a new particle shape after defining the bulk material and interaction properties.
    1. Right-click Particle Material in the Bulk Material section and then select Add Particle > Add Multi-Sphere.
    2. Enter the name 'Grain Particle' in the Particle highlighted field.

      Optionally, you can rename the particle by right-clicking the particle and selecting Rename Particle.

  5. Define the spheres and properties.
    Note: Particles are made up of one or more spheres. In this lesson, the grain particle is assumed to be made from two spheres.
    1. In the Creator Tree, select Grain Particle and then select Modify Shape in the Detailed View section.
    2. Click Modify Shape and select Dual Sphere from the Shape Library as follows:

    3. In the Particles Detail table, change the Physical Radius of ‘sphere 0’ to 10 mm and the Position X, Y, Z to (0, 0, 0) mm.
    4. Set the Physical Radius of ‘sphere 1’ to 8 mm and the Position X, Y, Z to (0, 0, 4) mm.

    5. Under the Grain Particle > Properties section, click Calculate Properties to define the mass, volume and inertia.
  6. Set the size distribution of the bulk material.
    1. In the Creator Tree, select Grain Particle > Size distribution.
    2. Select normal from the Size Distribution dropdown list.
    3. In the Normal Size Distribution Parameters section, select 1 from the Mean list and 0.05 from the Std Dev list.
    4. Select Radius in the Scale By section.
      Note: The Mean is 1x of the particle diameter and the Standard Deviation is 0.05 x of the particle diameter. This creates a bulk material of a 2-sphere shape and normal size distribution.

Define the Equipment Material

The next step in setting up the model is to add the equipment material which will be used in the simulation.

To define the equipment material:
  1. Add new equipment material.
    1. Right-click Equipment Material in the Creator Tree, and then select Add Equipment Material and enter the name 'steel' in the highlighted field.
  2. Define the equipment material properties.
    1. Select steel in the Equipment Material section.
    2. In the steel Properties dialog box, specify the Poisson's Ratio, Solids Density, and Shear Modulus as follows:


  3. Define the bulk material - equipment material interaction.
    1. In the Interaction dialog box, click the icon.
    2. In the Select Material dialog box, select Particle Material from the dropdown list to define the interaction between elements made of 'Particle Material' and elements made of 'steel'.
    3. Specify the coefficients as follows:


Define the Geometries

The next step in setting up the model is to define the screw auger Geometry used in the model.

To define Geometries:
  1. Import the screw auger Geometry that has already been created and is ready to be imported into EDEM.
    1. Right-click Geometries in the Creator Tree and then select Import Geometry.
    2. Navigate to the file screw_auger_complete.stl (ScrewAuger.zip) and import it.
    3. In the Geometry Import Parameters dialog box, set the Units of measurement to Millimeters.
    4. Ensure that the Merge Sections checkbox is not selected and that all the settings have the default values.
    5. Click OK.
      Note: The screw auger is displayed in the Viewer. It is made up of two sections which are listed under the Geometries section in the Creator Tree. When you select any of the options, they are highlighted in red.
    6. In the toolbar, select Mesh as the Geometry Display Mode.
    7. Right-click each Geometry element in the Geometries section and rename them to hopper and screw blade appropriately.
    8. Select all the Geometry sections by pressing the Ctrl or Shift key.
    9. Set the Type to Physical and change the Material to steel for all.
  2. Specify the screw auger kinematics.
    1. Select screw blade in the Creator Tree Geometries section.
    2. Right-click and then select Add Motion > Add Linear Rotation Kinematic.
    3. Select the newly created kinematic, and then set the Initial Velocity and the Axis of Rotation as follows:


      Note: Since you have selected the Display Vector checkbox, you can see the Axis of Rotation and direction in the Viewer.
  3. Create the particle factory plate.
    Note: Particle factories are used to define where, when and how particles will appear in a simulation. All factories must be based on a section of Geometry (whether 'real' or 'virtual'). This defines the area or volume in the model that produces the particles.
    1. Right-click Geometries in the Creator Tree.
    2. Select Add Geometry > Polygon and then enter the name factory_plate into the highlighted field.
    3. Select the polygon and in the General section of the Detailed View set the type to Virtual, since the plate is not a physical part of the machinery.
    4. Expand factory_plate in the Creator Tree and select the Transform subsection and set the Z position to 480 mm.
    5. Select the Polygon subsection and specify the Number of Edges and Dimensions of the polygon as follows:


      Note: The factory plate is created at the top of the hopper.


  4. Create the particle factory.
    1. Right-click factory_plate in the Creator Tree.
    2. Click Add Factory and select Dynamic Factory.
      Optionally, right-click the new factory in the Creator Tree and then select Change Factory Type.


    3. In the Particle Generation dialog box, select Total Number and set the value to 700.
    4. In the Generation Rate section, select Target Number and set the rate to 1000 kg/s.
  5. Set the initial parameters for the factory.
    1. Set the Velocity to fixed and click the icon to set the velocity in the z-direction to -2 m/s.
      Note: In this model, you want the particles to be traveling downwards at the specified speed towards the bottom of the hopper.
    2. Select File > Save.

Define the Physics

The next step is to select the contact models that describe how elements behave when they come into contact with one another.

To define the Physics:

In this example, the default Hertz-Mindlin contact model and Standard Rolling Friction are used for both Particle to Particle and Particle to Geometry interactions.

  1. Select Physics in the Creator tree and ensure that you select the Hertz-Mindlin (no slip) model for both Particle to Particle and Particle to Geometry interactions.


  2. Select the Standard Rolling Friction model.
  3. Optionally, to select a different model, click Edit Contact Chain and select the required contact models.

Define the Environment

The final step in setting up the screw auger model is to set the domain of the simulation.

To define the environment:
  1. Select Environment in the Creator Tree.
  2. Ensure that the Auto Update from Geometry checkbox is not selected.


  3. Increase the Max domain to 1000 mm in the X-direction.
    This will enable you to view the particles falling from the end of the screw.
Next Step - Run the Simulation