3.7. DEM granular flow chutes¶

This tutorial shows how to create a three dimensional pure granular flow simulation from a series of cylindrical chutes. The model setup is:

3.7.1. Create a new project¶

On the main menu, select New project
Create a new project by double-clicking on “Blank” template.
Enter a project name and browse to a location for the new project.
When prompted to enable SMS workflow, answer No, we will use the standard workflow for this tutorial.

On the Model pane:

On the Geometry pane:

Create the cylindrical geometry by pressing -> primitives -> cylinder
- Enter 0.1 meters for the cylinder radius
- Enter 30 for the cylinder resolution

Create another cylindrical geometry by pressing -> primitives -> cylinder
- Enter 1.2 meters for the cylinder height
- Enter 0.08 meters for the cylinder radius
- Enter 30 for the cylinder resolution
Subtract the smaller radius cylinder from the larger radius cylinder
- Select the larger radius cylinder (named cylinder)
- While holding the ctrl key, select the smaller radius cylinder (named cylinder1)
- Press the (difference) button

Slice the tube in half:
- Add a box: -> primitives -> box
- Change the Center X value to 0.5 m
- Change the Y Length to 1.2 m
- Select the tube (named difference)
- While holding the ctrl key, select the box (named box)
- Press the button
Rotate the chute:
- Select the chute (named difference1)
- Add a filter: -> transform
- Enter a value of 0.8 m in the Translate Y field.
- Enter a value of 70 in the Rotation Z field.

Copy the chute by pressing the button with the chute selected (named transform)
- Enter a value of 0.8 in the Translate X field
- Enter a value of 0.6 in the Translate Y field
- Enter a value of 120 in the Rotation Z field
Copy the chute again by pressing the button with the chute selected (named transform1)
- Enter a value of 0.0 in the Translate X field
- Enter a value of 0.3 in the Translate Y field
- Enter a value of 70 in the Rotation Z field
Press the Autosize button to fit the domain extents to the geometry

On the Mesh pane:

Enter 20 for the x cell value

Enter 20 for the y cell value

Enter 10 for the z cell value

Select the Regions pane.

Create a region to be used for the wall boundary condition
- Click the (all) button to create a new region
- Enter a name for the region in the Name field (“walls”)
- Change the color by pressing the Color button
- Check the Select facets (STL) checkbox
Create a region to be used as the mass inflow boundary condition
- Click the (top) button to create a new region
- Enter a name for the region in the Name field (“inlet”)
- Enter a value of -0.4 m in the From X field
- Enter a value of -0.2 m in the To X field

On the Solids pane:

On the DEM sub pane:

check the Enable automatic particle generation checkbox and keep defaults values for all other settings.

On the Initial conditions pane leave the default initial condition.

On the Boundary conditions pane:

Create a new Boundary condition by clicking the button
On the Select region dialog, select “Mass Inflow” from the Boundary type drop-down menu
Select the “inlet” region and click OK
On the glass beads sub-pane:
- Enter a value of 0.1 in the volume fraction field.
- Enter a velocity in the Y-axial velocity field of -0.1 m/s
Create another Boundary condition by clicking the button
On the Select region dialog, select “No Slip Wall” from the Boundary type combo-box
Select the “walls” region and click OK

On the Output pane:

Results can be viewed, and plotted, while the simulation is running.

Create a new visualization tab by pressing the in the upper right hand corner.
Select an item to view, such as plotting the time step (dt) or click the VTK button to view the vtk output files.