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GPU CUDA Guide
The EDEM CUDA GPU module uses the latest General Purpose Computing on Graphical Processing Units (GPU) technology.

Welcome
What's New
New features and enhancements available in EDEM.
Release Notes
This document contains information about the EDEM release, such as key features and enhancements, bug fixes, and known issues.
About EDEM
EDEM is a high-performance simulation software for bulk and granular materials.
Get Started with EDEM
The EDEM user interface comprises three icons for each simulation component - Creator, Simulator, and Analyst.
EDEM Creator
EDEM Creator is the pre-processor for creating an EDEM simulation model, including setting up equipment and defining the generation of bulk materials.
EDEM Simulator
EDEM Simulator is a powerful solver used for fast and efficient simulations.
EDEM Analyst
EDEM Analyst is the post-processor used to analyze and visualize the results of your simulation.
EDEM Contact Models
A Contact Model describes how elements behave when they come into contact with each other.
EDEM Cal Utility
EDEM Cal is a utility which works with EDEM and is designed to assist in performing calibration.
GPU CUDA Guide
The EDEM CUDA GPU module uses the latest General Purpose Computing on Graphical Processing Units (GPU) technology.
- Set up Hardware
  This section describes the tests necessary to run EDEM CUDA GPU such as GPU Device and Connectivity tests.
- Set GPU CUDA Simulator Parameters
  The EDEM GPU CUDA solver engine will automatically allocate the required memory and resources as the simulation runs.
- Run GPU from the Command Line
  To run EDEM GPU from the command line, specify the simulator engine with the flag “-E” followed by the corresponding engine number.
- GPU CUDA Known Issues and Limitations
  The EDEM 2022.3 GPU CUDA Solver Engine contains the following known issues.
- GPU CUDA Troubleshooting
  The following tips may help resolve any issues while using the EDEM GPU Solver Engine.
- GPU CUDA API Guide
  CUDA requires that all functions be declared according to where they are going to be called and executed.
Programming Guide
The EDEM Programming Guide describes the EDEM API.
Coupling Interface Programming Guide
The Coupling Interface Programming Guide provides an overview of how to use the EDEM Coupling Interface to couple with a generic CFD code and/or Multi Body dynamics codes.
EDEMpy
EDEMpy is a Python library for accessing EDEM data from .h5 files (the underlying EDEM file format). EDEMpy does not require prior knowledge of advanced programming.
EDEM Solver Capabilities
EDEM contains four solver engines.
Appendix
This section provides additional information about how to estimate simulation time, supported EDEM File types, attribute definitions, and so on.
EDEM Terminology
Definitions of terms used in EDEM.
References and Bibliography
This section cites the contributions made by various authors and sources that have been used as reference material for EDEM, and the specifics of how they have been applied can be found in the individual contact model sections.

GPU CUDA Guide

The EDEM CUDA GPU module uses the latest General Purpose Computing on Graphical Processing Units (GPU) technology.

By utilizing cutting-edge Nvidia GPU cards, EDEM is able to deploy contact model calculations across thousands of processing cores and deliver simulation results many times faster than by using traditional desktop CPUs. The EDEM GPU and Multi-GPU solver engine is based on CUDA. The CUDA code requires compute capability of 3.5 or later and is compatible with Windows or Linux.

The range of GPU cards available and the technology behind them is constantly changing and moving fast so if you are not sure of what hardware you need please get in touch and our engineers will be happy to talk about results from our most recent rounds of testing. The CUDA GPU engine offers a range of precision modes including double, hybrid, and single.

The CUDA API is available and documented in the API section and the API Help section available in the EDEM folders.

As of EDEM 2018 2.0, EDEM GPU contains a fully double precision solver.

Hardware Requirements

In order to run EDEM using the CUDA solver, you must ensure that the following requirements are met:

(Hardware) The system must have a CUDA enabled GPU with compute capability at least 3.5. However, a compute capability at least 6.0 is required to use the direct add feature in the advanced options.
(Software) The system must have an Nvidia driver installed which supports at least version 11.0 of the CUDA toolkit. https://docs.nvidia.com/cuda/cuda-toolkit-release-notes/index.html.
(Software) The system must have an Nvidia driver installed which supports the CUDA enabled GPU that is in use. This requirement may be more or less stringent than the requirement given by (2). In general, it is recommended to upgrade to the most recent driver version possible.
The command line utility nvidia-smi is installed along with the Nvidia driver can be used to check the installed driver version: https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-system-management-interface.
It is not mandatory to install any CUDA toolkit to run EDEM. It is only necessary to install a sufficiently up-to-date version of the Nvidia driver.