Workshop 18 – Mixing Analysis (LMI)

Part A: Project Setup and Processing

R4.3

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OBJECTIVES

The main purpose of this workshop is to learn to set up and process a simulation for
later mixing analysis using the Lacey Mixing Index (LMI), which will be covered in
Part B.
The scenario considered in this workshop is that of a Ribbon Blender mixing two
different materials: one main material and one additive material.

You will learn how to: And you will use these features:
Set up a Rotational Motion Motion Frames
Define new Materials and Materials Volume Fill Input
Interactions
Define multiple Volume Fill Inputs

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PREREQUISITES

This workshop assumes that you are already familiar with the Rocky user interface
(UI) and with the project workflow.
If this is not the case, please refer to Workshop 01 – Transfer Chute for a basic
introduction about Rocky usage before beginning this workshop.
Note: The features in this workshop are designed to work with both Rocky Designer
and Rocky Professional.

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GEOMETRIES

The geometries in this tutorial are

composed of:
1 Tank
2 Rotor and Central Shaft
These two items will be imported as *.stl files,
which can be found in the workshop directory.

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PROJECT CREATION
Ensure that you have downloaded and extracted the workshop_18_input_files
zip folder that was provided along with this PDF.
Open Rocky 4. (Look for Rocky 4 in the Program Menu or use the desktop
shortcut.
From the Rocky program, click the New Project button, or from the File menu,
click New Project (Ctrl+N).

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PROJECT DETAILS

The first step of the simulation setup is to define any useful

information for the project, such as the name and material
properties.
From the Data panel, click Study 01.
From the Data Editors panel, enter the project information
(as shown).

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PHYSICS DEFINITION

For the Physics step, we will be leaving the momentum

models as default but will be lowering the softening factor to
reduce the simulation time.
From the Data panel, select Physics.
From the Momentum tab, lower the Numerical Softening
Factor (as shown).
Important: Reducing the softening factor may cause a high
overlap between particles.

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GEOMETRY IMPORT
For the Geometries step, we will import geometry files in
*.stl format.
From the Data panel, right-click Geometries and then click
Import Custom Geometry.
From the Select file to import dialog, navigate to the
workshop_18_input_files folder that you previously
downloaded, find the workshop_18_geometry folder, and
then select both of the following files, and then click Open:
Rotor.stl
Tank.stl
(Save your project now if you have not already done so.)
From the Import File Info dialog, select “m” as Import Unit,
ensure that the option Convert Y and Z axes is cleared
(unchecked), and then click OK.

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MOTION FRAME

For the Motion Frames step, we will create a Rotation

motion and then apply it to the Rotor geometry.
From the Data panel, right-click Motion Frames and
then select Create Motion Frame.
From the Data panel, select the newly created Frame
<01> entry.
From the Data Editors panel, define the parameters
as specified on the next slide.

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MOTION FRAME

From the Data Editors panel, on the

Frame tab, define the Name (as shown).
To create a new motion using this frame,
click the green plus button (Add motion)
and then define the Start Time, Type,
and Initial Angular Velocity (and Units)
(as shown).

Note: By delaying the Start Time for the

Rotor Shaft Motion Frame, we will allow the
particles to settle before the mixing begins.

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MOTION FRAME

Once the Motion Frame has been created, it must be assigned to a geometry.
From the Data panel, under Geometries, select Rotor <01>.
From the Data Editors panel, select the Custom Geometry tab, and then define
the Motion Frame (as shown).

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MOTION FRAME

For this workshop, since this geometry has a motion with displacement assigned, the
movement can be previewed using the Motion Preview window.
From Data panel, select Motion Frames, and then on Data Editors panel click Preview.
The Time toolbar can be used to ”play” the preview. The yellow color of the slider
indicates that the simulation has not yet been processed.

Tip: You may need to

make the Tank <01>
geometry transparent (or
hidden) to see the rotor
motion.

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MATERIAL DEFINITION

For this workshop, three Materials will be used: one for all the
geometry parts (Default Boundary) and two additional
materials representing the Main Product and the Additive
Material, respectively.
From the Data panel, expand Materials, and then select
Default Boundary.
Keep the default properties (as shown). (No changes.)

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MATERIAL DEFINITION

From the Data panel under Materials, select Default Particles.

From the Data Editors panel, define the Name, Bulk Density and Young’s
Modulus (as shown).

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MATERIAL DEFINITION

To add a new Material, from the Data panel, right-click Materials, and then click Create
Material.
From the Data panel under Materials, select the newly created Material <3> entry.
From the Data Editors panel, define the Name, and then enable the Use Bulk Density
checkbox (as shown). Then, define the Bulk Density and Young’s Modulus (as shown).

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INTERACTION BETWEEN MATERIALS

To set the interaction properties, from the Data panel, click

Materials Interactions. The Data Editors panel then displays
the editable parameters.

Using the right and left drop-down lists, we will need to set
values for five different material pair combinations:
Additive Material x Additive Material
Additive Material x Default Boundary
Main Product Material x Additive Material
Main Product Material x Default Boundary
Main Product Material x Main Product Material
Adjust the parameters for each combination according to the
values shown on the next slides. rocky.esss.co
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INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MATERIALS
Main Product Material – Default Boundary
Static Friction: 0.3
Dynamic Friction: 0.3
Tangential Stiffness Ratio: 1
Restitution Coefficient: 0.3
Additive Material – Default Boundary
Static Friction: 0.3
Dynamic Friction: 0.3
Tangential Stiffness Ratio: 1
Restitution Coefficient: 0.3
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Main Product Material – Main Product
Material
Static Friction: 0.7
Dynamic Friction: 0.7
Tangential Stiffness Ratio: 1
Restitution Coefficient: 0.3
Main Product Material – Additive Material
Static Friction: 0.7
Dynamic Friction: 0.7
Tangential Stiffness Ratio: 1
Restitution Coefficient: 0.3
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INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MATERIALS

Additive Material – Additive Material

Static Friction: 0.7
Dynamic Friction: 0.7
Tangential Stiffness Ratio: 1
Restitution Coefficient: 0.3

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PARTICLE GROUP DEFINITION

For the Particles step, we will create two new Sphere-shaped

particle groups, each with a different size.
From the Data panel, right-click Particles and then select Create
Particle.
A new particle group is created under Particles.
Repeat the same procedure to create a second new Particle
Group.
Follow the instructions on the next slide to configure each
Particle Group.

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PARTICLE GROUP DEFINITION
From the Data panel under Particles, select Particle <01>.
From the Data Editors panel, on the main Particle tab, define the Name and Material (as
shown in left image, below).
From the Size sub-tab, define the Size (as shown).
Repeat this procedure with Particle <02> using the values as shown in right image, below.

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INPUT DEFINITION

For this workshop, we’ll create two volume fill inputs so

that a layer of Additive particles is placed over a layer of
Main Product particles.
To achieve perfectly flat layers, we will constrain both
Inputs by the geometries and by their own bounding
boxes.
From the Data panel, right-click Inputs and then select
Create Volume Fill.
A new entry is created under Inputs.
Select the newly created Volume Fill <1> entry, and
then from the Data Editors panel, modify the
parameters as specified on the following slide.
IMPORTANT: The Additive Mass will be set as 10% of
the total mass (Additive + Main Product).

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PARTICLE INPUT DEFINITION

Define the Name and Seed Coordinates (as

shown).
Under Custom Geometries, click the Check
All button to select all the geometries listed.
Under Box bounds, define both the Center
Coordinates and Dimensions (as shown).
From the Standard sub-tab, click the Add
button (green plus) to create a new entry row.
From the new row, select the Particle group
name from the drop down list and then define
the Mass in kg (as shown).

Tip: You can visualize the Seed Point (blue

dot) and geometry bounds (blue box) in a 3D
View window.
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PARTICLE INPUT DEFINITION

Create another volume fill Input. (From the

Data panel, right-click Inputs, and then
click Create Volume Fill.)
From the Data panel, select the new
Volume Fill <2> entry, and then from the
Data Editors panel, define the
parameters according to the screenshot
shown.

Tip: You can visualize the Seed Point

(blue dot) and geometry bounds (blue
box) in a 3D View window.

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SOLVER DEFINITION
From the Data panel, click Solver and then from the Data Editors panel, ensure that
the main Solver tab is selected.
From the Time sub-tab, define Simulation Duration and Output Frequency (as
shown).

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SOLVER DEFINITION
From the General sub-tab, select CPU (or GPU/Multi GPU) as Simulation Target,
and then set the Number of Processors (or Target GPU(s)).
Click Start.

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SOLVER DEFINITION

Once you click Start, the Simulation Summary window will be displayed.
Once initialization is complete, this screen will close automatically and Rocky will
process your simulation.
Tip: You can find this information later on the Solver | Summary tab on the Data
Editors panel.

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SIMULATION

Click the Refresh button (or use the Auto Refresh

checkbox) to see the results in a 3D View window
during processing.
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

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HELP – USER MANUAL

This completes Part A of this workshop.

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, from the main Toolbar click Help, point to Manuals, and then click
User Manual.

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HELP – USER MANUAL

In the User Manual, use the Search tab to quickly find the topic you are interested in:

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CONCLUSION

Rocky was used to set up and process a Ribbon Blender simulation.

During this workshop, it was possible to:
Set up a Motion Frame with a rotational motion
Define new Materials and configure their Materials Interactions
Create multiple Volume Fill Inputs
What’s Next? If you completed this workshop successfully, then you are ready
to move on to Part B and post-process this project.

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