The capabilities of CFD-DEM coupling in MFiX

MFiX
#1

Dear community,

During my PhD four years ago, I used OpenFOAM and LIGGGHTS to simulate CFD-DEM coupling with CFDEMcoupling. Currently, I am seeking open-source CFD-DEM coupling software packages. I have observed that CFDEMcoupling stopped releasing new free versions after 2017. Therefore, I am searching for other frequently updated alternatives, which led me to MFiX.
I have a few questions concerning the CFD-DEM coupling capabilities in MFiX:

  1. Is it possible to use a GPU for the CFD-DEM coupling, or perhaps employ a GPU for DEM modeling and a CPU for CFD modeling?
  2. What is the recommended total particle number that MFiX can handle for both resolved and unresolved CFD-DEM?
  3. Could you provide documentation or published articles on the theory of CFD-DEM coupling in MFiX?

Thanks and best regards,
Min

#2

Hello @minzhang_ut

  1. There is no support for GPU in MFiX. You may want to check out MFiX-EXA which is a new implementation that supports GPU. However at this time it is not as fully developed as “classic” MFiX (it does not have a graphical front end, and does not support as many options). It is still under active development.

  2. Total particle number is dependent on your computational resources and patience. If you have access to a large HPC cluster you can simulate hundreds of thousands (or more) particles, using DMP mode. If you are using a single node, you will be more limited.

  3. MFiX theory documentation is here MFiX Documentation - NETL Multiphase Flow Science

Hope this helps,
– Charles