Release Notes version 2024

This section contains information about the EDEM version 2024 release, such as key features and enhancements, bug fixes, and known issues.

Key Features and Enhancements

This section describes the key features and enhancements in EDEM.

Tavares UFRJ Breakage Contact Model

The Tavares UFRJ Breakage Contact Model has the following updates:
  • Updated fragment families to account for breakage of smaller particle generation.
  • Removal of dummy particles to improve the workflow. The same analysis which previously required dummy particles is available in EDEM Analyst.
  • Damping force has been removed from the model by default to match the experimental data more accurately.
  • Legacy model for damping force is an option that can be used to match the previous model behavior.
  • An error message will appear if the contact radius has not been defined for the particles.

Analyst - SimSolid export using EDEM Units

The Export to SimSolid options have been updated to allow the exported files to be based on the units defined in the EDEM interface rather than the SI units. This allows SimSolid to be set up using a different units system and use the generated files from EDEM without adjusting the data.

GPU

The OpenCL GPU solver has been removed from EDEM.

Coupling Custom Properties - Simulation and Geometries

It is now possible to access Geometry and simulation custom properties through the coupling. It is also now possible to provide different initial values when registering a custom property with multiple elements.

Specify the port number used for Coupling

An option to directly specify the port used for each coupling instance has been added to both the EDEM UI and command line. If a port is not specified, the behavior will be the same as previous versions. A new coupling flag, --cs-port, has been added to support this. This method has been added to support scenarios where a number of coupled simulations are launched simultaneously and to ensure that information the instance connecting to which coupled client.

Recurdyn Performance

The Recurdyn Coupling will now allow simulations to progress wherever EDEM is taking smaller steps than Recurdyn. The EDEM simulation will run until it needs to communicate with the Recurdyn simulations, where it will pause and exchange data. This should significantly speed up simulation with EDEM-Recurdyn when run on the CUDA GPU Solver.

Particle Sphericity

EDEM calculates the sphericity of a particle for use in Drag models. This is calculated during the calculate properties of a prototype particle. Internal drag models have been modified to make use of the sphericity, and relevant functions have been added to the Coupling Interface and API to utilize it with custom models and coupled software.

Prototype Particle Dimensions

The Prototype particle bounding box dimensions have been added to the interface for use with the coupling interface. The bounding box can be used to calculate the aspect ratio of the particle. This enables CFD couplings to determine the correct drag force to apply to the coupling.

Particle Surface Area

EDEM will calculate the surface area of a particle. For Polyhedral and Sphero-Cylinder particles this is directly calculated. For Multi-Sphere particles the area is based on a sampling method and may be seen to recalculate adjusting the value slightly when the automatically calculate particle properties is turned on.
Specify which data and the data precision used in Coupling Interface
New functions have been added to replace the getParticleData function. These functions will let you specify the information to be used while coupling. The functions will get the following:
  • element ID
  • Type Name
  • Type Index
  • Particle Position
  • Velocity
  • Angular Velocity
  • Scale
  • Mass Orientation

An additional argument has been added to each function to specify the precision of the data used. This will be either single or double precision.

EDEMpy Version 1.5.0

EDEMpy Version 1.5.0 contains the following updates:
  • EDEMpy - Read Continuum Analysis Data
  • EDEMpy can now interrogate field data to provide access to Continuum Analysis values.

System

CIQ Rocky Linux 8.4 is the supported Operating System.

CIQ Rocky Linux 8.4 has been added to the officially supported Operating Systems list.

Contact Models

Linear Elastic Bonding Model Update

The Linear Elastic Bonding Model has been updated to include the 'Bond Creation Time' options. With this plugin, you have an option for the bonding time, including at particle creation time, which means it will work with Meta-Particles.

Lubrication Model Update

Changes have been made to the Hydrodynamic Lubrication model to improve the accuracy for Particle-Geometry contacts. In this updated approach, the calculation of the Hydrodynamic (lubrication) force has been improved and testing shows greater correlation to physical testing.

Bug Fixes

This section lists the fixes for issues in EDEM version 2024.0.

EDEM version 2024.0 contains fixes for the following issues:
  • The Auto-update option during the simulation does not work as expected on a new simulation.
  • The Selective Save options disables options for Meta-Particles.
  • When using Block factories, the order of particles in contacts can be reversed meaning that contact information from the original simulation would not be correctly assigned.
  • The units of rotation are missing from the Residence Time Plugin models.
  • Truncated simulations do not retain custom property values.
  • The Viewer can become unresponsive when you select the legend position option despite being in a different menu.
  • Python scripts from EDEM Cal fail as the Python path is being incorrectly detected.
  • EDEMpy script errors are not colored, making them harder to read.
  • An incorrect warning has been reported in EDEMpy related to size distribution not being supported.
  • Particles which developed NaN values for position or orientation are not be removed from the simulation when running with the CUDA solver.
  • Simulator Queries fail to export power and torque during selective save.
  • When the total torque is extracted about a specified axis, the output value does not scale appropriately if you select a unit type that is not Nm. Further, the axis value is not being scaled as expected and is based on torque units, rather than length units.
  • File associations cannot not be turned 'Off' or 'On' using the installer.
  • Errors occur in the API Parameter Interface when particles are renamed.
  • A crash can occur when playing back a simulation in EDEM Analyst.
  • Geometries imported into EDEM can have inconsistent normal orientations. This could cause incorrect volume packing behavior, template rendering, and Geometry properties calculation.
  • Replacing multiple Geometries from the command line replaces only the first Geometry in the list.
  • The Calibration Kit Cone Penetrometer simulation run time is set to the wrong time.
  • EDEMpy now rejects newer versions of EDEM decks, to avoid corrupting them.
  • An unexpected license error occurs in console coupling simulations.

Known Issues

This section describes the known issues in EDEM version 2024.0.

GPU Solver Compatibility

The EDEM Solver Engine has some restrictions on the types of simulations it can run in the current version. These are documented in the EDEM help files (GPU guide) and summarized in the Solver Capabilities section.

MotionView Geometry import issues

To use the parent-child functionality in EDEM with a rotating Geometry imported from MotionView, you must move the Geometries local origin using the local origin offset to the center of the Geometry. If the local origin is not at the center of the rotating Geometry, the child will move around an axis relative to the automatic local origin (0,0,0). This will cause the child to move in unwanted directions.

EDEM CPU utilization can be higher than expected

On some computers, the Windows Task Manager can show that EDEM is using significantly more CPU threads than expected. This will typically happen when there are many idle CPU threads available. As a workaround, you can create the following environment variable: OMP_WAIT_POLICY=passive. This will restrict the number of CPU threads EDEM is using to the number that you have specified. Testing has not shown this issue to have any noticeable effect on simulation performance.