Discrete Element Method Blog – LEAP Australia

Discrete Element Method – LEAP Australia

LEAP Australia is the leading engineering software solutions provider in Australia and New Zealand, assisting thousands of companies with their design and engineering problems. The aim of this site is to share the extensive experience and knowledge we have gained over the years in working with Discrete Element Method (DEM) and particle simulations. If you are also interested in Computational Fluid Dynamics we encourage you to visit our CFD blog, or for Finite Element Analaysis, visit our FEA blog.

Expert Insights: Materials Calibration for DEM modelling of Bulk Solids

This post summarises our recent live panel discussion on materials calibration for discrete element method (DEM) modelling of bulk solids where we had the privilege of hosting industry leaders Daniel Grasser, Consulting Engineer at Tundra Bulk Solids and Richard Elliott, Technical Director – Bulk Handling at Rockfield Technologies. They were joined by DEM specialists from LEAP: Angelo Christakakis, Application Engineer & Technical Lead – DEM as well as Josh Hately, Engineering Solutions Manager, who moderated the discussion.

An Engineer’s Guide to Materials Calibration when Modelling Bulk Solids

Predicting the bulk solid’s behaviour and extracting information which cannot easily be measured experimentally are key benefits of Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations, such as Ansys Rocky DEM. However, the quality of the prediction depends on the calibration of the simulation. This guest blog by Dr Daniel Grasser, Consulting Engineer at TUNRA Bulk Solids, Newcastle (Australia) introduces guidelines for the Discrete Element Method calibration in the context of bulk solids handling and mining/minerals.

Fluid-structure interaction simulation of wave overtopping flow and vegetation for coastal hazard mitigation

Climate change is increasing the exposure of communities to coastal hazards and traditional solutions, such as seawalls or revetments, can have a high financial, social and environmental cost. As a result, nature-based solutions are encouraged in coastal policy. This guest article by University of Auckland’s Joshua Bagg, Mark Battley, Colin Whittaker and Tom Shand describes their unique research aimed to investigate the interaction between salt marsh grass and wave overtopping flow using Ansys Fluent and Ansys Rocky to inform the design of nature-based solutions.

Applying Tangential Pressure in Ansys Mechanical – Transfer Chutes

Transfer chutes are very commonly used in bulk material processing and handling scenarios, particularly for bulk granular materials. When analysing the structural performance of a transfer chute, it’s important to consider how the flow of material will impact your design, and to then quickly evaluate the structural performance of the design under load. Whilst it’s straightforward to account for the normal component of pressure in a design, the tangential pressure is a trickier load to setup. In this blog, we’ll investigate how you can setup pressure loads to capture tangential pressures for a variety of transfer chute geometries.

Ansys Shared Web Licensing

The Ansys Shared Web License allows users to work from anywhere, on any device with an internet connection. This is a clear difference from Flexnet License which requires both the user and license server device to be within the same network. This article explains the benefits and provides details on how you can get started with of Ansys Shared Web Licensing today.

Ansys Rocky for Slurry Flows

Understanding slurry flows is crucial for applications such as mining and mineral processing, chemical manufacturing, wastewater treatment, agriculture and many more. Ansys Rocky DEM can help to accurately predict the behavious of a slurry by simulating the size and shape of the solid particles, the types of solids present, the viscosity of the liquid and the concentration of the solids in the liquid.

This article explains how Rocky DEM empowers you to model slurry flows – from mills to open channels – and gain a clear understanding of particle-fluid interactions with remarkable accuracy.

Advanced Features of Ansys Rocky DEM for Next-Level Simulation

This article provides a dive deep into the cutting-edge capabilities of Ansys Rocky DEM, showcasing how advanced features like OptiSLang integration, robust API capabilities, and Multi-GPU acceleration can transform your simulation experience.

Whether you’re tackling complex particle interactions or optimising your designs, the aim of this article is to equip you with the tools to elevate your projects and drive innovation.

Rocky DEM for Transfer Chutes, Conveyors and Bulk Materials Handling

LEAP recently ran a webinar that explored how Rocky DEM is helping engineers and equipment designers around Australia to easily troubleshoot existing issues and optimise their designs to avoid chute blockages due to wet/cohesive materials, improve longevity of wear liners and better configure chute flow to reduce belt misalignment and tracking issues.

This article summarises this presentation and includes video highlights including demonstrations of how Rocky DEM simulations help designers assess the overall performance of bulk materials handling systems.

Rocky DEM for Heavy Equipment Design

For engineers working in heavy equipment design, the ability to analyse and predict the behaviours and responses of structures in varying operating conditions is critical to ensure both safety and optimal equipment performance. At LEAP, our decades of experience with DEM has put us in the perfect position to help our customers to implement Ansys Rocky DEM, coupled with Multi-Body Dynamics (MBD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) solvers. This article explores the various ways that Ansys Rocky can be combined with other tools within the Ansys product portfolio, to deliver higher fidelity simulations – with a focus on the heavy equipment industry.

Honouring the legacy of pioneering Chemical Engineering researcher, Emeritus Prof. Owen Potter with the help of simulation

Invented by Emeritus Professor Owen Potter AM, a globally renowned chemical engineer, the Venso Flow fluidisation process has significant potential to improve the efficiency and sustainability of many industrial processes. Driven by honouring her father’s legacy, learn how Caecilia Potter and her VensoGrow team are using insights from simulation and IoT control systems to help further improve the process and apply it to seed coating applications.