Create a New Geometry Section
You can create sections in EDEM or import them from a CAD program to create particle factories.
- In the Creator Tree, right-click Geometries.
- Select Add Geometry and then select Box, Cylinder, or Polygon.
- Rename the selected Geometry.
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Select the renamed Geometry and specify the following details:
For Specify General Volume Is auto-filled and indicates a section described as a volume or a surface. Completely closed boxes and cylinders are volumes; polygons and open boxes or cylinders are surfaces. Volumes or virtual surfaces can later be converted into particle factories. Type Select the section type from the Type dropdown list. Virtual
A Virtual section (used to create particle factories) is a surface or volume of interest that does not actually exist and does not interact with anything in a simulation.Physical
A physical section is an actual surface or volume that particles can interact with.
Dynamic Domain
You can apply Dynamic Domain to an EDEM Box Geometry (volume) only. If you have selected the Simulator Dynamic Domain option, any particles inside the Dynamic Domain will be active and particle contacts and forces are calculated as usual. Any particles outside the dynamic domain will be assessed to determine if they are stationary. Any stationary particles will be frozen and removed from the contact detection calculations, allowing the simulation to be resolved faster.
Material Select a material from the Material dropdown list. Parent Select the Geometry object to be a parent if you have selected a parent-child functionality from the Parent dropdown list. Geometry handling in EDEM enables Geometry sections to be defined as ‘children’ of another Geometry section. This allows the ‘child’ Geometry to inherit kinematics from the ‘parent’ Geometry which greatly reduces the number of kinematics which need to be created in complex systems. At this point, the primary benefit of this change is the ability for the Dynamic Domain to be defined as a child of another Geometry section without the need for movement to be controlled by an external 3rd party, such as MBD software.
The child will now move with the parent if the parent is assigned a motion or moved within the global space (rotated or translated).
Before setting the initial position of the parent Geometry, you must assign the child and select or deselect the Include Rotation From Parent Transform checkbox (located within the child's Transform). This will mitigate any unwanted movements when selecting or deselecting this option.
Partial Parent Transform
To include only a partial parent transform,use the option within the child’s transform to exclude the rotational aspect of the parent’s motion. Select . If you do not select this option, only the parent translational motions are retained.
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Select the new section and specify the following details:
For Specify Reference Space Indicates Parent or Local reference spaces. Center of Mass Auto Calculation Select the checkbox to automatically calculate the Center of Mass of the Geometry. click the calculate option to adjust the Center of Mass to the Geometries current position. For open volumes the CoM is calculated based on the size and center of the mesh elements. X Specify the Center of Mass parameters for the X component (for imported Geometries). Y Specify the Center of Mass parameters for the Y component (for imported Geometries). Z Specify the Center of Mass parameters for the Z component (for imported Geometries). Mass Auto Calculation Select the checkbox to automatically calculate the mass based on the density of the equipment material. If you do not select this option, you can manually define the mass. Mass Specify the mass by selecting a value from the Mass list. Moment of Inertia Auto Calculation Select the checkbox to automatically calculate the Moment of Inertia based on the shape of the equipment. If you do not select this option, you can manually define the Moment of Inertia. -
Select Transform and specify the following
details:
For Specify Reference Space Indicates Parent or Local reference spaces. Position Specify the X, Y, and Z position of the object. Rotation Specify the X, Y, and Z rotation of the object relative to the origin of the object. Note: You can define rotation transforms only at the first Time Step.Local Axis Rotation Click > to rotate the object by 1 degree and >> to rotate the object by 5 degrees. Local Origin Offset Specify the rotation relative to the local origin. The local origin is automatically set to the Geometries Center of Mass. Rotation Start Point Specify the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the start point of the vector. Alternatively, click Pick to select a Geometry element as a starting point. End Point Specify the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the end point of the vector. Alternatively, click Pick to select a Geometry element as a ending point. Angle Specify the angle of rotation of the vector and then click Apply to update the parameters. Note: You can navigate to and then select or unselect the option to turn the Axis key for Transform On or Off. -
For the defined Geometry, specify the following details:
For Specify Box Length Specify the length of the cube in the X, Y and Z direction. Enable Faces Select any of the six faces of the box to be displayed. Cylinder Radius Start Specify the start radius of one end of the cylinder. The end can be open or closed. Radius End Specify the radius of one end of the cylinder. The end can be open or closed. Length Specify the length between the start and end radius. Polygon Rectangle Number of Edges Specify the number of edges - the minimum number of edges is three.
For a four-sided polygon, specify the minimum number of edges to four.Length Edge A Specify the size of the radius from the center to the corner of the shape.
For a four-sided polygon, specify the length dimensions.
Length Edge B For a four-sided polygon, specify the width dimensions.
Note: Particles will not be able to see Geometry parts that are outside the domain boundary or that coincide with it directly because they are not included in the simulation.