EDEM Simulator
EDEM Simulator is a powerful solver used for fast and efficient simulations.
- Configure and control the EDEM simulation engine, and observe the progress of your simulation
- Cutting-edge DEM solver, highly parallelized for use on multi-core shared memory workstations, GPU hardware, and Multi-GPU systems
- Double-precision Solver engine used across all platforms.
- Simulations for large and complex particle systems.
- Live viewer window to review progress and assess design performance
- Ability to start and stop simulations at any time or configure data output while running a simulation
EDEM Simulator is supported by a range of time-saving tools, including the novel Dynamic Domain as well as auto-settings for key DEM solver parameters that help reduce the overall simulation run time.
- The Simulator Pane
- The Viewer
- The Toolbar and Menu Bar
- The Solve Report
The Simulator Pane
The Simulator pane is where you define the Time Step, simulation time, grid options and Simulator Engine for the CPU mode.
The Viewer
The Viewer displays 3D representations of your particles, Geometry, and fields (if applicable). You can control the rotation, position, and zoom factor of the Viewer using a mouse. There are a number of animation controls displayed below the Viewer.
You can set up more than one display by splitting the screen in order to see the progress of the simulation from different points of view. The simulation start/stop button and simulation progress bar are located below the Viewer.
The Toolbar and Menu Bar
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Creator | Opens EDEM Creator |
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Simulator | Opens EDEM Simulator |
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Analyst | Opens EDEM Analyst |
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Save | Saves changes made to the Simulator settings |
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Help | Displays the online Help |
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Change Time Step Back | Moves to the first Time Step in the simulation |
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Change Time Step Forward | Moves to the last Time Step in the simulation |
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Filled Display Mode | Displays Geometry as filled |
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Mesh Display Mode | Displays Geometry as a mesh |
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Points Display Mode | Displays Geometry as points |
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Display Particles | Displays or hides all particles |
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Display Frozen Particles | When selected while using the Dynamic Domain, any frozen particles will be colored black |
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Display Cylindrical Periodic Boundary Conditions | Displays cylindrical periodic boundary conditions |
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Show GPU Splitting Plane | Shows/hides GPU splitting planes |
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Refresh Display | Updates Viewer to display the 3D simulation at the Time Step when the button is pressed |
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Auto Update | Activates/Disables automatic updates |
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Simulator Grid | Shows/Hides Simulator Grid (Multi-Sphere particles only) |
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Start Coupling Server | Starts the Coupling Server |
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Coupling Server Disabled | Disables the Coupling Server |
| File Menu | |
|---|---|
| Save | Saves the current model |
| Import Config | Imports a config (*.dfg) file |
| Export Config | Exports a config (*.dfg) file |
| Creator | Starts EDEM Creator |
| Simulator | Starts EDEM Simulator |
| Analyst | Starts EDEM Analyst |
| Quit | Exits EDEM |
| Menu | |
|---|---|
| GPU Memory Calculator | |
| Total Available Memory Size | Indicates the memory available within the used GPU device. If a different GPU is used for display and processing, the value available may not match the true amount available. |
| Required Memory for Grid | Indicates the memory allocated to the domain grid |
| Required Memory for Particle | Indicates the memory allocated to particle data |
| Required Memory for Contact Cache | Indicates the memory allocated to the possibility of simultaneous contacts in one particle |
| Required Memory for Contact Storage | Indicates the memory allocated for contact data |
| Number of Particles | Indicates the amount of initial memory allocated for particles. It is recommended to input the number if it is known. Otherwise, click the green arrow to let EDEM estimate it from the factories already set in the Creator. While the default value is 100k, the minimum value can be set to 10k. |
| Number of spheres (Multi-Sphere only) | Defines the amount of initial memory allocated for contact cache and contact storage. It is recommended to input the number if it is known. Otherwise, click the green arrow to let EDEM estimate it from the factories already set in the Creator. While the default value is 100k, the minimum value can be set to 10k. |
| Number of Particle – Particle Contacts | Indicates the number of Particle-Particle contacts and can be set up if known. Otherwise, with the green arrow, EDEM will estimate an average of three Particle-Particle contacts per sphere. While the default value is 300k, the minimum value can be set to 10k. |
| Number of Particle – Geometry Contacts | Indicates the number of Particle-Geometry contacts and can be set up if known. Otherwise, with the green arrow, EDEM will estimate an average of one Particle-Geometry contact per sphere. While the default value is 100k, the minimum value can be set to 10k. |
| Required Memory for Geometry | Indicates the memory allocated to the Geometry mesh |
| Total Required Memory size | Indicates the total memory required by all the above parameters |
| Additional Components | |
| Coupling Options | RecurDyn Coupling Select the checkbox to
view the Import Geometry from RecurDyn
option after you right-click Geometries
in the Creator Tree. This allows you to read a
Once the Geometry is imported and the coupling interface is enabled, RecurDyn can control the Geometry motion. The forces experienced by these Geometries are passed back to RecurDyn, which then calculates any motions resulting from these forces. |
| Abaqus Coupling Select the checkbox to view the Abaqus Co-Simulation option in the menu allowing you to couple EDEM with Abaqus FEA. |
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| Enable FlexTire Select the checkbox to enable coupling with FlexTire, if available. |
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| Experimental Options | Contact Models Select the Experimental Contact Models checkbox to view Experimental Contact models in the Edit Contact Chain dialog box of the Physics tree in EDEM Creator. |
| Data Browser | |
| Color Options |
Select the Text, Link, and Background colors to configure the color of the data browser text and background. |
| Display Options | |
| Default View Projection options | Perspective
Select to change the default view for the deck to Perspective. |
| Orthographic Select to change the default view for the deck to Orthographic. |
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| Background Color |
Select the fill color of the Viewer background. The background can be colored with a single color or gradient fill. The color change will affect EDEM Creator, Simulator, and Analyst. |
| User Logo |
Select the Enable checkbox to display a custom logo. |
| Logo File Path | Click the … icon to browse to the path of the logo file. |
| Scaling in Width |
Use the scaling options to position, scale, and specify the opacity as required. |
| Display As | Select the Foreground or Background option to display the user logo. |
| File Locations | |
| Materials Database | Browse to the location of the Materials database used to store and transfer materials to and from simulations. |
| GEMM Database | Browse to the location of the Generic EDEM Material Model database used to import to EDEM. |
| Contact Models | Browse to the location of the custom(user-defined) contact models. For more information about user-defined models, see the Programming Guide. |
| Particle Body Force | Browse to the location of custom(user-defined) particle body force models. |
| Particles | Browse to the location of particles saved independently of the model for reuse in other projects. |
| Factories | Browse to the location of any user-defined factories. |
| Geometry Import Temporary File Location Override | Select the checkbox to change the temporary file location used during the Geometry import process. Use this option only if there is an issue with using the default TEMP file location. |
| Alternate Windows import method | Select the checkbox when you import a file using Windows. A
command line window is displayed and the command hmbatch
import is executed, and you can view the output.
However, the import operation is executed as normal. |
| Mouse 3D Configuration | |
| Enable 3D Mouse Control | Select the checkbox if you want to use a 3D Mouse for navigation. Specify the parameters such as translation, rotation sensitivity, and axis inversion. |
| Mouse Configuration | |
| Camera Actions | Change the mouse button and modifier key to pan, track, zoom, and
rotate the camera. Modifier keys assign keys to perform the
specified camera action. Note: Select any
unique combination of three mouse buttons and three keys for
each motion. |
| Rotate on Axis | Change the mouse button and modifier key used to rotate on an axis. You can also set rotation on the model or screen axis for both horizontal and vertical rotations. |
| Bin Control | Select an option from the Bin Control Modifier dropdown list to change the color from blue to green. Select the Pan, Track, Axis Locked Rotation, and Free Rotation options using the Bin Control Modifier (default Ctrl) to move the bin. |
| Mouse Sensitivity | Select the Invert Zoom checkbox to reverse
the zoom direction. Note: The options to
redefine the buttons and sensitivity sliders do not work for
Track and Zoom. |
| Select the Track and Zoom options to alter the mouse sensitivity independently. You can also specify modifier keys for each sensitivity setting. | |
| Rendering Options | |
| Render all using legacy display | Select the checkbox if EDEM cannot use the Computer Graphics Card. This is applicable when using Remote Desktop or EDEM on computers with out-of-date graphics card drivers. |
| Reduce new template details during camera movement | Select the checkbox to speed up the manipulation of the EDEM Viewer when using particle templates. Particles will be visualized as spheres while the view is being adjusted and then switch to templates when the view is fixed. |
| Display Templates | Select the 3D CAD files to be used as particle templates. You use templates as a guide (outline) to help define the shape of your particle in EDEM Creator as well as providing, if required, the shape for calculation of the center of gravity and mass moments of inertia, or as a display option in EDEM Analyst. When a
model containing a particle template is saved, an extra file
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| Section Options | |
| Creator | |
| Timestep on Switch | Select the Load Last checkbox to automatically load the last Time Step when you switch to the Creator automatically. |
| Hide Options | Select the Hide Electrostatics checkbox to hide the configurations for Geometries and Particle factories. |
| Simulator | |
| Compress Save Data | Select the checkbox to compress the simulation data as it is saved to minimize file size. Unselecting this option will reduce the time taken to save the simulation data but increase the file size. |
| Show Licensed CPUs | Select the checkbox to display the number of CPUs available under
the current software license. Warning: System specifications may limit the number of
CPUs that can be used. |
| Timestep on Switch | Select the Load Last checkbox to view the last Time Step when switching to the Simulator. By default, the current Time Step is displayed. |
| Particle Size Distribution Solver Graph | Select the number of Histogram bars to be displayed in the Solve Report. |
| Number of Histogram Bars | Select the number of Histogram bars to be displayed from the dropdown list. |
| Analyst | |
| Timestep on File Load | Select the Load Last option to load models into EDEM Analyst with the last Time Step appearing first. |
| Select the Load First option to load models into EDEM Analyst with the first Time Step appearing first. | |
| Display | Select the Auto Update Display checkbox to automatically toggle between updating the display when changing display properties, or an Apply button that must be first selected. |
| Select the Axis Key checkbox to turn the display of the Axis key in the Viewer on or off. | |
| Select the Domain Box checkbox to turn the display of the boundary box (marking the domain edges) in the Viewer on or off. | |
| Select the Timestamp checkbox to turn the display of the time stamp in the Viewer on or off. | |
| Data Export Defaults | Select the default format from the Notation dropdown list when exporting data using the data export tool. Options are Smart, Fixed-Point, and Scientific. |
| Select the corresponding default precision from the Precision dropdown list when exporting data using the data export tool. | |
| Suppress Warning Messages | Select the Suppress Deprecated Contact Model Warning Messages checkbox to disable warning messages when deprecated Contact models (models that are outdated in this release of EDEM) are used. |
| Simulator Engine | |
| Engine Default Settings | Select an engine from the Default Engine
dropdown list. Options are CPU Solver, and
GPU CUDA Solver. Note: In EDEM
Simulator, you can modify the default engine after which this
information is stored for every simulation in the
simulation_name.dfg file. While opening
existing simulations, the engine that is displayed will have the
last saved setting for the simulation. |
| Default Number Of Cores allows you to
specify the default number of cores. When starting a new simulation, EDEM uses the default number of the Maximum Cores available on the local PC. This can be specified once for every user after which EDEM will use the default setting. |
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| Units | Select Set All to SI to specify all the measurement units used throughout EDEM to be standard SI measurement units. |
| Select Set All to CGS to specify all the measurement units used throughout EDEM to be standard SI measurement units. | |
Solve Report
.html page that displays detailed information
about your model. It provides detailed information from the last refresh point which
may not be the current simulation time.
- In the Simulator tab, right-click the tool bar, and click Solve Report to launch the Solve Report in case it is disabled.
- You can move and position the Solve Report below the 3D Viewer, above the Simulator settings, or in place of the Simulator Settings where you can navigate back and forth between the Solve Report and Simulator settings.
- Right-click the Solve Report and select Save to save
the information in an
.htmlfile. - Right-click the Solve Report and select Refresh to update the information to the current simulation time.
| Color Options | |
| Text | Changes the color of the text used in the Solve Report |
| Link | Changes the color of the hyperlinks used in the Solve Report |
| Background | Changes the background color of the Solve Report |
| Categories Displayed | |
| Simulation | Shows statistics related to the entire simulation in the Solve Report |
| Custom Simulation Properties | Shows details of the Custom Properties in the Solve Report |
| Grid Cells | Shows details of the cell grid size (only if you have selected the CUDA Solver) in the Solve Report |
| Particles | Shows details related to particles in the Solve Report |
| Geometry | Shows details related to Geometry in the Solve Report |
| Energy | Shows statistics related to energy in the Solve Report |
| Factories | Shows statistics related the factories in the Solve Report |
| Auto Update | |
| Enabled | Updates the Solve Report at regular intervals |
| Update Every <n> Iterations | Modifies the number of intervals used to update the Solve Report |
| Simulation | |
|---|---|
| Status | Indicates whether the simulation is processing or stopped |
| Time Step | Indicates the time step used by the model as detailed in the Simulator |
| Estimated total computation time | Indicates the estimated total time to complete the simulation |
| Current time | Indicates the time elapsed into processing |
| Elapsed computation time | Indicates the time since the simulation started (excluding pauses) |
| Exported simulations | Indicates the elapsed time reset to 0 on export |
| Particles | |
|---|---|
| Total number | Indicates the total number of particles in the model |
| Total removed | Indicates the total number of particles removed from the model. For example, particles that move beyond the domain boundaries. |
| Minimum speed | Indicates the speed of the slowest particle in the model |
| Maximum speed | Indicates the speed of the fastest particle in the model |
| Grid Cells (CUDA Solver) | |
|---|---|
| Status | Indicates the allocation of grid cells or if grid cells have been initialized |
| Side Length | Indicates the dimensions of grid cells as specified in the Simulator |
| Created | Indicates the number of grid cells created |
| Geometry Section | |
|---|---|
| Speed | Indicates the speed of the Geometry section |
| Number of particles in contact | Indicates the total number of particles in contact with the Geometry section at the current Time Step |
| Energy | |
|---|---|
| System energy | Indicates the total energy in the model at the current time. It is the sum of the kinetic energy, potential energy and the energy in any contacts taking place. It should be equal to the total energy gained by creating particles plus the total energy gained by Geometry movement minus the energy lost through contacts minus the energy lost by removing particles. |
| Kinetic and potential energy | Indicates the total kinetic and potential energy in the system |
| Total lost by removing particles | Indicates the total energy lost by removing particles from the domain |
| Total lost through contacts | Indicates the total energy lost by contacts between elements |
| Total gained by creating particles | Indicates the total energy gained |
| Total gained by external forces | Indicates the total energy gained from external forces |
| Factory | |
|---|---|
| Status | Indicates the current factory status |
| Total particles created | Indicates the number of particles that could not be placed after reaching the maximum attempts to place the particle |
| Total particles regenerated | Indicates the number of particle creation attempts. If this number is significantly larger than the total particles created, it is an indication that the simulation is running slowly due to excessive CPU effort going towards creating particles. |
| Total particles failed | Indicates the number of particles accepted and currently being generated |
| Total particles accepted | Indicates the number of particles accepted in the grid |
| Creation rate/target creation rate | Indicates the particle or mass creation rate as specified in the Factories pane |
| Mass created since rate change | Indicates the amount of mass created by the factory (when the creation rate is set to the target mass rate of particles) |
| Actual creation rate since rate change | Indicates the actual creation rate (as opposed to the target creation rate) when the creation rate is set to the target mass rate of particles |
| View Menu | |
|---|---|
| Show Particles | Select to turn the particle display on or off in the Viewer |
| Parent-Child Lines | Select to view the lines connecting objects in the Creator and Simulator tabs that are linked with parent–child relationships. |
| Themes | Select Legacy (default) or Dark Theme for the EDEM interface |
| Toggle Display Command Line Output | Select to open the Command Line output window and view items that are not displayed in the EDEM interface, such as licensing errors. |
| Show Frozen Particles | Select to view the frozen particles in black when using Dynamic Domain |
| Refresh Display | Select to update the Viewer to display the 3D simulation at the Time Step when the button is pressed |
| Auto Update | Select to activate/deactivate automatic updates to the simulation in the Viewer |
| Show Simulator Grid | Select to activate/deactivate the Simulator Grid |
| Displays Menu | |
|---|---|
| Show 1 Display | Shows the EDEM window in a single display. |
| Show 2 Displays | Shows the EDEM window in two viewer displays to review different view-points of the model within each window |
| Show 3 Displays | Shows the EDEM window in three viewer displays to review different view-points of the model within each window |
| Show 4 Displays | Shows the EDEM window in four viewer displays to review different view-points of the model within each window |
| Split Display Horizontally | Splits the displays horizontally so that simulations may be simultaneously reviewed qualitatively and quantitatively on the same display |
| Split Display Vertically | Splits the displays vertically so that simulations may be reviewed both qualitatively and quantitatively on the same display |
| Help Menu | |
|---|---|
| Help | Displays information about the EDEM interface |
| About EDEM | Displays the current version of EDEM. The EDEM Version and Revision number are useful for EDEM Technical Support when discussing support cases. |
| About Altair Simulation Products | Displays the Copyright notices, Altair website, License Agreements, and Customer Support information. |