Calculate Particle Properties

EDEM allows you to configure the particle mass, volume, and inertia either manually or automatically.

To calculate particle properties manually:
  1. Select the particle.


  2. In the Calculate properties based on dialog box, select any of the following:
    • Shape
    • User defined
    • Imported Template
  3. If you have selected the Shape option, select the Automatically Center Particle checkbox to automatically center the particle when calculating the moments of inertia.
    Note: If you clear the Automatically Center Particle checkbox, it may produce non-physical results.
    1. If you select the Auto Calculation checkbox, any changes to the defined particle size or shape will automatically trigger the Calculate Properties tool.
    2. Click Calculate Properties to calculate the mass, volume, and moments of inertia for the current particle.
    Note: Since random sampling is used to calculate particle properties, recalculation for particles with multiple surfaces may result in slightly different values.
  4. If you have selected the User defined option, specify values for the following:
    Property Description
    Mass Indicates mass of the particle.
    Volume Indicates volume of the particle being measured.
    Moment of Inertia X/Y/Z The moment of inertia is a measure of a body's resistance to angular acceleration. A particle consists of a number of spheres, i, each with mass mi and radius ri. If each sphere is a distance di from a particular axis of rotation, then the moment of inertia of the particle about that axis is given by the following equation:

    I = ∑ i ( m i z i 2 + m i d i 2 ) MathType@MTEF@5@5@+= feaahqart1ev3aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq=Jc9 vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0=yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr=x fr=xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaGaamysaiabg2 da9maaqafabaGaaiikaiaad2gadaWgaaWcbaGaiaiJdMgaaeqaaOGa amOEamaaBaaaleaacaWGPbaabeaakmaaCaaaleqabaGaaGOmaaaaae aacaWGPbaabeqdcqGHris5aOGaey4kaSIaamyBamaaBaaaleaacGaG moyAaaqabaGccaWGKbWaaSbaaSqaaiaadMgaaeqaaOWaaWbaaSqabe aacaaIYaaaaOGaaiykaaaa@4972@

    You can specify different values for the moment of inertia to take into consider particles of varying material properties (such as hollow spheres).
    Drag Force Properties These properties are used within Drag force models either through a coupling or the built-in models.
    Surface Area Indicates the surface area of the particle. This is based on a sampling method and may update every time you click Calculate Properties.
    Sphericity Indicates the ratio of the surface area of an equal-volume sphere to the actual surface area of the particle.
    Length X Indicates the length of the bounding box of a particle in the X direction.
    Length Y Indicates the length of the bounding box of a particle in the Y direction.
    Length Z Indicates the length of the bounding box of a particle in the Z direction.
    Fixed Velocity Indicates that particles are generated with a fixed value that does not change after creation.
    Note: If a value is displayed in red, it is not recommended.