DEM Solutions has released EDEM 2.1, the latest version of its software used to simulate and optimise bulk material handling and processing operations. The upgraded version is supplied with many new integrated contact models and the flexibility to customise advanced physics and particle properties.
The software now includes an improved user interface and an optimised fluid dynamics coupling module for Fluent, a new dynamics coupling option.
For users working in manufacturing where tablets can be damaged during mixing and transportation, EDEM 2.1 integrates load-limited particle bonding and has the ability to visualise intact and broken bonds, post process and export bond data.
For users looking to expand into new areas with more complex particle properties, the EDEM extended API enables customisation of particle contact and body force models and provides full data-save and post-processing of user-defined particle attributes. In processes such as coating, for example, cohesion can be applied to each particle and set to change over time or due to interactions with other materials. These custom properties could then show regions of non-uniform coating or variable cohesion between particles within the coating drum.
EDEM is said to be the first commercial DEM application to couple directly with CFD software, allowing users to simulate particle-fluid systems in applications such as dense-phase conveying, filtration, drying, particle agglomeration and clumping, fluidised flow, solid-liquid mixing, and spray coating.
The software uses a surface mesh to represent the geometric boundary, which enables a one-to-one coupling with the boundary surface elements of the Fluent fluid volume.