Workshop 11 DeM LBM PDF

Workshop 11 – LBM-DEM
Coupling
www.rocky-dem .com
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this workshop is to present the 1-way coupling between

DEM and Lattice-Boltzmann Method (LBM) to observe the particle-
induced air flow.
Covered Topics:
Air Flow
Vectors Plot
www.rocky-dem .com 2
PREREQUISITES
This workshop assumes that the user is already familiar with Rocky
user interface and with the project workflow. If that is not the case,
please refer to the Workshop 01 – Transfer Chute, for basic
introduction about Rocky usage.
HELP – USER MANUAL
For further information on any topic presented, we suggest searching

the User Manual, which provides in depth descriptions of the tools and
parameters.
To access it, click on Help, in the Toolbar, and select User Manual,
under Manuals options.
HELP – USER MANUAL
In the User Manual, use the Search tab, to quickly find the topic you are
looking for:
GEOMETRY
The geometry in this tutorial is

composed of:
1) Feed Conveyor
2) Surface
(1)
(2)
PROJECT CREATION
Open Rocky 4. Look for Rocky 4 in Program Menu or use desktop

shortcut. Click on New Project, or in File, New Project (Ctrl+N).
New Project Save Project
PROJECT DETAILS
The first step of the setup is to define any

useful information of the project.
Click on Study 01 and edit as shown.
PHYSICS DEFINITION
For this workshop, in order to reduce

the simulation time, reduce the
Numerical Softening Factor, in the
Momentum tab.
GEOMETRY IMPORT
In Geometries, it’s possible either to
create standard or import custom
geometries.
For this case the geometries will be
imported in *.stl format. Right click on
Geometries, select Import, Custom
Geometry.
Select the following file:

Surface
All parts will be imported using “mm”
as Import Unit and keep the option
Convert Y and Z Axes unchecked.
FEED CONVEYOR DEFINITION
For this workshop, a Feed Conveyor will be created to input the

material, without the need of an Inlet.
To do this, right-click on Geometries in the Data View, go to Create,
and select Feed Conveyor. A new geometry part named Feed
Conveyor <01> will be included in the tree;
Change the parameters in each tab in order to define the Feed
Conveyor according to the next slides.
Geometry: Skirtboard:
Transition Length: 3 m Material: Default Boundary
Loading length: 3 m Width: 0.7 m
Belt width: 1 m Length: 4.5 m
Triangle size: 0.1 m Skirtboard height: 0 m
Belt Thickness: 0.025 m Length offset: 1.5 m
Height offset: 0 m
Orientation:
Alignment angle: 0º Feeder Box:
Belt incline angle: 20º Front plate offset: 0 m
Vertical Offset: 0.2 m Drop box length: 1.8 m
Horizontal Offset: 0 m Drop box width: 1.8 m
Out-of-plane offset: 0 m Drop box height: 0.5 m
Return Belt Angle: 0º Wall thickness: 0.025 m
Head Pulley: Belt motion:

Face width: 1.2 m Belt speed: 3 m/s
Diameter: 0.5 m Beginning start time: 0 s
Offset to Idlers: 0 m Beginning stop time: 1000 s
Acceleration period: 0 s
Belt profile: Deceleration period: 0 s
Material: Default Belt

Belt profile: Three rolls
Use 0.371 ratio for Center Roll
Length: Checked
Troughing Angle: 35º
Lower Corner Radius: 0.15 m
MATERIAL DEFINITION
In this workshop the three default materials will be used. Change

Density for the Default Boundary and disable Use Bulk Density and
the Density for Default Particles (as shown).
INTERACTION BETWEEN MATERIALS
To set the interaction properties, click on

Material Interactions in the Data View.
From the left drop list, select Default

Particles, and for the right drop list,
select, in order: Default Boundary,
Default Belt and Default Particle.
Adjust the parameters for each
combination according to the values
shown on the next slide.
INTERACTION BETWEEN MATERIALS
Static Friction: 0.6

Dynamic Friction: 0.6
Default
Coefficient of Restitution: 0.1
Belt
Adhesive Distance: 0.0001
Force Fraction: 0

Default Dynamic Friction: 0.3
Default
Particles Coefficient of Restitution: 0.1
Boundary
Force Fraction: 0

Dynamic Friction: 0.35 Default
Coefficient of Restitution: 0.1 Particles
Force Fraction: 0
PARTICLE GROUP DEFINITION
To create a new particle group, right click on

Particles in the Data view and select the
option Create Particles.
Doing this will generate a new Particle Group

to set up.
PARTICLE GROUP DEFINITION
In the Geometry tab, define Enable Rotation, Shape Type, and

Rolling Resistance (as shown).
In the Size Distribution tab the default values will be used (as shown).
To visualize the new created particle, click on Particle <1> and click
Preview. A new window will appear showing the particle geometry.
MASS FLOW DEFINITION
To create a new particle mass flow, right

click Input in the Data view and select the
option Create Particles Input.
Doing this will generate a new Particle Input

to set up.
MASS FLOW DEFINITION
Select Feed Conveyor <01> as the Entry Point, from the drop down
list;
To add a new particle mass flow, click in the green plus button;
Select the Particle Name from the drop down list and define the
Tonnage (as shown).
AIR FLOW DEFINITION
To create a Air Flow setup, click on CFD

Coupling in the Data view.
In the Data Editors, the Coupling Mode can
be selected from the drop down list. Select
the Air Flow option.
Doing this will generate a new Air Flow CFD

Coupling to set up in the Data view.
The available options are described in the
next slide.
AIR FLOW DEFINITION
Operation Properties
Use Air Flow: Enables/Disable Rocky Air Flow
calculations
Start When Particle Enter: Enables Rocky Air
Flow calculations to start as soon as particles enters
the Air Flow box domain.
Air Properties
Air Density: The density of the air.
Air Viscosity: The viscosity of the air.
Lattice-Boltzmann Details
Cell Size: The size of the Air Flow cell.
Interaction Scale: Determines the interaction
between the Particle and the air.
Start Time: When Start When Particles Enter is
cleared, this is the time that Air Flow calculations
begin during the simulation.
Speed of Sound: The speed of sound, which is
used to calculate Air Flow .
Boundary Conditions: Method applied for the
* For more information on how Rocky calculates boundary
calculations, affecting accuracy and stability.*
conditions, see the 2000 paper by Verberg and Ladd entitled,
"Lattice-Boltzmann Model with Sub-Grid-Scale Boundary Coordinate Limits: Fluid Domain limits.
Conditions."
AIR FLOW DEFINITION
In the Air Flow tab define the Cell Size, Interaction Scale and
Coordinate Limits (these can be different than the DEM domain limits),
as shown.
Interaction Scale was modified from
default value (0.25) only for workshop
purposes. For general analysis, the default
value is recommended.
Set mesh size
Set fluid domain limits
SOLVER DEFINITION
In the Time Configuration tab use the default settings(as shown)

In the General Settings tab, uncheck the Use Compressed Files and
select either CPU or GPU as Simulation Target, and then the Number
of Processors or Target GPU and unselect Use Compressed Files.
For this workshop, CPU will tend to solve fastest due the low particle
count.
Click Start Simulation!
SIMULATION
Particle states can be viewed in real

time as the simulation progresses.
The speed of the simulation depends
on various factors such as:
Number of mesh elements used to define
the geometry
Number of contacts in the simulation
domain at any time
Smallest particle size and material
stiffness
The particle shape and the number of
vertices used to define the shape
Frequency of file output
POST PROCESS – 3D VIEW
Select an appropriate Time and Property for the particles to investigate

the results.
POST PROCESS – AIR FLOW
In the Coloring tab of Air Flow, check Visible and Vectors and select
Velocity from the Property drop down list (as shown).
USER PROCESS – PLANE
Create a Plane crossing the Air Flow to plot the fluid Properties. To
create it, right click Air Flow and select Plane, under Process.
Use the values shown for Plane Origin and Normal, in the Plane tab.
To finish, drag and drop the Absolute Velocity, from the Properties
tab, on the 3D View to display the velocity contours.
USER PROCESS – PLANE
USER PROCESS – PROPERTY
Create a Property subset of the Air Flow to show regions with air
absolute velocity higher than a certain value. To create it, right click
on Air Flow and select Property, under Process.
Use the values shown for Property, Mode, Type and Range, in the
Property tab.
To finish, drag and drop the Absolute Velocity, from the Properties
tab, on the 3D View to display the velocity contours.
USER PROCESS – PROPERTY
Region with air velocity

higher than 0.5 m/s
CONCLUSIONS
Rocky was used to simulate the induced streams due to the particle
movement.
During this workshop, it was possible to:

understand the basics of the Rocky user interface
import sample geometries
create basic geometry in Rocky
define basic Lattice-Boltzmann parameters
post-process the Lattice-Boltzmann Air Flow

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Workshop 11 – LBM-DEM

The purpose of this workshop is to present the 1-way coupling between

For further information on any topic presented, we suggest searching

The geometry in this tutorial is

Open Rocky 4. Look for Rocky 4 in Program Menu or use desktop

New Project Save Project

The first step of the setup is to define any

For this workshop, in order to reduce

Select the following file:

For this workshop, a Feed Conveyor will be created to input the

Head Pulley: Belt motion:

Material: Default Belt

In this workshop the three default materials will be used. Change

To set the interaction properties, click on

From the left drop list, select Default

Static Friction: 0.6

Static Friction: 0.3

Static Friction: 0.4

To create a new particle group, right click on

Doing this will generate a new Particle Group

In the Geometry tab, define Enable Rotation, Shape Type, and

To create a new particle mass flow, right

Doing this will generate a new Particle Input

To create a Air Flow setup, click on CFD

Doing this will generate a new Air Flow CFD

Set mesh size

Set fluid domain limits

In the Time Configuration tab use the default settings(as shown)

Particle states can be viewed in real

Select an appropriate Time and Property for the particles to investigate

Region with air velocity

During this workshop, it was possible to:

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