Contact Model and GPU Device Compatibility

The Multi-Sphere solver can run on two different engines such as CPU and CUDA.

The engine to be used will be determined by the hardware as well as the simulation settings. The GPU engines (CUDA) can only be used when all models in a simulation are supported; otherwise, the entire simulation will run on the CPU if only some of the Physics models are supported on the GPU. In order to understand which models take full advantage of the GPU engine, select the Solvers tab in the EDEM Physics Interaction section of the Creator.

The following table provides details about the contact models that are supported by the solver engines:
Models Name CPU CUDA
Base Models Hertz-Mindlin (no slip)
Hertz-Mindlin with JKR**
Hertz-Mindlin with JKR V2
Linear Spring
Hysteretic Spring
Edinburgh Elasto-Plastic Adhesion
No Base Model
Rolling Friction Models Standard Rolling Friction
RVD Rolling Friction (Deprecated)
Type C Rolling Friction
No Rolling Friction Model
Additional Models Bonding (Deprecated)
Bonding V2
Breakage
Heat Conduction
Linear Cohesion V2
Tribocharging
Electrostatics
Relative Wear
Archard Wear**
Spray Coating
Particle Body Forces Electrostatics
Temperature Update
Saffman Lift
Magnus Lift
Schiller and Naumann Drag
Morsi and Alexander Drag
Haider and Levenspiel Drag
Ganser Drag
Note: ** An experimental equivalent of this model is available in Options > Additional Components > Enable Experimental Contact models.

If an API model is written with the GPU API (API code includes the relevant CUDA file), the status of the GPU Solver Mode will change from CPU Solver to GPU Solver. Contact Chaining for GPU API is supported. However, only one plug-in model is supported at the same time. If the API is a Base contact Model, you must not further add in-built base contact models to the simulation.

For more information about the GPU Solver, see the GPU CUDA Guide.