Selective Saves

Selective saves allow you to select which attributes are saved and how often by defining partial saves. Using selective save can greatly reduce simulation data file sizes and allow you to run even larger simulations.

To enable selective saves:
  1. In the Simulator Settings dialog box, specify the following details:
  2. Specify a value for Full Data Save Every to set the frequency of full data saves.
    Selective save works by combining full saves (where all data is written out) and partial saves (where only selected data is written out) to create smaller data sets. For example, assume you have a simulation with a total time of 10 seconds that writes-out every 1 second. By default, this creates a full save of all simulation data every second.
    0s 1s 2s 3s 4s 5s 6s 7s 8s 9s
    Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full Full
    For example, setting the Full Data Save Every option to 3 intervals results in a full save only every 3 seconds (the first write-out is always a full save).
    0s 1s 2s 3s 4s 5s 6s 7s 8s 9s
    Full Partial Partial Full Partial Partial Full Partial Partial Full
  3. Click Configure Save.
  4. In the Data Save Configuration dialog box, select the Particle, Geometry, and Interaction Attribute Data tabs to save in a partial save.
    Table 1. Particle Data
    Data Group Attribute Data
    Base Particle Data ID
    Position
    Orientation
    Number of particles
    Volume
    Voidage
    Mass
    Moment of Inertia
    Potential Energy
    Velocity Velocity
    Kinetic Energy
    Angular Velocity Angular Velocity
    Rotational Kinetic Energy
    Total Energy
    Force and Torque Compressive Force
    Total Force
    Torque
    Table 2. Geometry Data
    Data Group Attribute Data
    Base Geometry Data ID
    Position
    Surface Normal
    Node
    Number of Geometry Elements
    Velocity
    Angular Velocity
    Force and Torque Compressive Force
    Total Force
    Torque
    Table 3. Interaction Data
    Data Group Attribute Data
    Contacts (Particle-Particle) All particle-particle contact attribute data
    Contacts (Particle-Geometry) All particle-geometry contact attribute data
    Collisions (Particle-Particle) All particle-particle collision attribute data
    Collisions (Particle- Geometry) All particle-geometry collision attribute data
    Custom Properties All interaction-based custom property data
    The Data Save Configuration dialog box also displays an estimate of the per-particle or per-triangle reduction in data size for each Time Step.
  5. Select the appropriate checkbox to include an attribute in the save. Any other required attributes will also be enabled.
    Optionally, you may not select a data group to exclude related attributes.
    Note: If you stop the simulation earlier and then switch to EDEM Analyst, the current Time Step will be a full save irrespective of the full save interval.