ATCx Discrete Element Method
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10:00 AM (London) / 11:00 AM (Paris) / 3:30 PM (New Delhi)
10:00 AM (San Francisco) / 1:00 PM (New York)
Welcome to ATCx Discrete Element Method (DEM)
Dr. David Curry I Senior Vice President CFD, and EDEM Products

Keynote: Simulation from Rock to Road
Dr. Andrew Hobbs I Head of Simulation and Modeling, Astec Industries
Since 2004 Astec has used Altair® EDEM™ to innovate and optimize creating more reliable and efficient equipment, improved customer profitability, and increased sustainability. Over the years advances in hardware and software have permitted greater depth of exploration especially in the areas of fluid coupling and multi-physics. In this talk we will describe our journey with EDEM, the current state, and where challenges remain.
Break Into First Set of Parallel Tracks
After the keynote presentation the agenda will break into 4 parallel sessions, focusing on:
Heavy Equipment
Mining & Metals
Process Manufacturing
Emerging Applications
Find out more about the presentations by clicking on the tracks above.
Once registered for the event you will be able to view the times in your time zone and save specific sessions to your calendar.

What's New in Altair® EDEM™?
Dr. Carlos Labra I Director EDEM Product, Altair
Meet our experts in this interactive session to find out more about new features and updates in our software. Led by Dr. Carlos Labra, experts will be available for a live interactive Q&A session.
Break Into Second Set of Parallel Tracks
TRACK A
– Altair® EDEM™ Benchmarks – by Sophie Cole, Associate Product Manager, EDEM
– Combining EDEM™ and HyperStudy® to Optimize the Design and Operation of a SAG Mill – by Bruno Mimouni, Intern, Altair
TRACK B
– Simple and Efficient Modelling of Powders with the EDEM™ Powders Database – by Stefan Pantaleev, Senior Application Engineer, Altair
– Go With the Flow: When DEM Meets CFD – by ... Read More
10:35 AM (London) / 11:35 AM (Paris) / 3:35 PM (New Delhi)
10:35 AM (San Francisco) / 1:35 PM (New York)
This session will showcase how Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the construction, off-highway and agriculture industries use DEM simulation to understand and predict how ores, rocks, soils and grains will interact with their equipment and get key insight into machine-material interactions.
Learn how this technology can help reduce reliance and cost of prototyping and field testing, maximize payload, minimize damage or loss of material, as well as driving innovation.
Once registered for the event you will be able to view ... Read More

Soil Modeling for Virtual Design and Performance Analysis of Mobility Systems for Off-Road Industry
Prof. Mehari Tekeste I Associate Professor, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University
Low-ground pressure (LGP) tires that exhibit higher flexibility than conventional standard radial tires are recently introduced for agricultural machine systems. The LGP tires carry a 20% to 40% larger vertical load than the conventional standard radial tires and appear to create a larger contact area on soft soils, potentially reducing soil compaction and improving traction and crop yield potential. Due to the complex soil-to-tire system between deformable soil and flexible tire elements, it has been challenging to fully leverage the ... Read More


Embedding Simulation in the Design Process: Validation & Verification Using Altair® EDEM™ & Altair® AcuSolve®
Dr. Jining Sun I CFD Engineer, Bucher Municipal
Gareth Knopp I Innovation & Simulation Manager, Bucher Municipal
Verification of designs, and validation of the performance of the vacuum road sweeper product is fraught with exposure to experimental issue regarding the control of variables during full product testing. With Bucher Municipal’s drive to innovate new methods and systems we are embedding simulation in the design process. Now we are beginning to use Altair simulation tools such as HyperWorks® CFD / AcuSolve®, and EDEM™ to enable virtual verification of complex Multiphysics problems which enable us to control variables ... Read More

Development of Asphalt Mass Transfer Model and its Application in Asphalt Mixing Process
Lei Xinjun I Director of the Digital Twin Institute of the Test and Pumping Detection Center of Sany Group
In this case, the corresponding particle model is built by calibrating the relevant parameters of asphalt and aggregate, the mass transfer process of asphalt between aggregate particles is calculated by using CFD method, and the simulation model suitable for asphalt mass transfer is developed by combining the small mixing torque calibration. The mass transfer model was used to study the mixing effect and mixing uniformity of a mixer, and laid a foundation for optimizing the blade parameters of the mixer ... Read More

A Study on Wear of Steel Plate by Aggregate for Deriving a Wear-resisting Design Guide for Dump Truck Deck
Dr. Seunghun Ryu I Senior Research Engineer, Hyundai Motor Company
A dump truck is equipment that mainly handles aggregate, which is a granular material, and repeatedly performs loading and dumping operations. Therefore, it has an environment in which abrasion by aggregates frequently occurs. Users of 15-ton dump trucks are dissatisfied with the vehicle’s wear-resistance performance. Most users are doing reinforcement to enhance the wear resistance performance through the aftermarket. It is necessary to build customer trust by improving the abrasion resistance quality of Hyundai dump trucks, and for this, an ... Read More

Introduction of Analysis Technology Using Altair® EDEM™ in Agricultural Machinery
Shuya Ueda I Kubota
Kubota is developing products in the three fields essential to people’s lives: food, water, and the environment. In the food field, Kubota is developing tractors for cultivating soil and combine harvesters for harvesting crops to contribute to the efficiency and stability of agriculture. In recent years, we have been focusing on digital development to improve the efficiency of product development, and are working on the advancement of analysis technology to evaluate the performance of not only ... Read More
10:35 AM (London) / 11:35 AM (Paris) / 3:35 PM (New Delhi)
10:35 AM (San Francisco) / 1:35 PM (New York)
In this session, leading companies in the mining, mineral processing and steelmaking industries will discuss how they use DEM simulation to optimize the performance and reliability of equipment such as conveyor transfer points, crushers, grinding mills, and blast furnaces.
Find out how this technology can help improve the productivity of plants and support more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly operations.
Once registered for the event you will be able to view the times in your time zone and save specific sessions ... Read More

Some Applications of Altair® EDEM™ Software at ArcelorMittal R&D
Dr. Edouard Izard I Research Engineer, ArcelorMittal
Two examples of our Altair® EDEM™ usage linked to the steel industry are presented regarding sintering and blast furnace applications. Simulation results are validated with experimental data at the pilot scale in each configuration.
The first application is about the DEM modelling of segregation issue from a sinter feeder charging system in which cohesive granular material needs to be handled. The Elasto-Plastic and Adhesive contact force model is calibrated with shear test simulations compared to experimental tests. The model is ... Read More

Smarter Simulation Design and Modelling to Improve Bulk Material Handling Equipment Performance
Dr. Andrew Grima I Chief Operating Officer, Bulk Materials Engineering Australia (BMEA)
The reliable design and operation of bulk materials handling and processing plants can be difficult when dealing with complex geometries and difficult-to-handle materials, such as wet and sticky bulk solids. There is increasing pressure for mining and engineering companies to reduce operating costs by optimising equipment design for maximum cycle life and availability. Often a deterioration of bulk solids handling characteristics requires modification of plant equipment to increase efficiency and productivity of mine operations.
A lack of detailed design and ... Read More

Modeling and Simulation of Mechanical Degradation of Iron Ore Sinter in a Complex Transfer Chute System
Saprativ Basu, Principal Researcher, R&D, Tata Steel
Tata Steel handles yearly several million tons of sinter for ironmaking. At present, a significant amount of the sinter becomes fines during handling and needs to be recycled. These fines are generated mainly during handling of sinter from plant to the blast furnace, inside transfer chutes. Repeated impact loading of particles against each other and against wall surfaces lead to their surface and body breakage thus, fines generation. The present work describes the calibration of a detailed breakage model of ... Read More

Approaches to Deploy Breakage in Conjunction to the Discrete Element Method
Dr. Luis Marcelo Marques Tavares I Professor, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Recent advances in particle breakage modelling, besides microscale population balance models (PBM) and the discrete element method (DEM) now make possible the simulation of crushing and grinding operations, besides mechanical degradation during handling using DEM. Depending on the type of application, different approaches may be used, including embedded breakage in DEM or describing it using the specially formulated PBM. In the heart of both resides the Tavares breakage model, which is a suite of mathematical equations that describe the different ... Read More
10:35 AM (London) / 11:35 AM (Paris) / 3:35 PM (New Delhi)
10:35 AM (San Francisco) / 1:35 PM (New York)
This session will feature key companies in the pharmaceutical, chemical and other process industries who will reveal how they use DEM simulation to get key insights into processes involving powders, tablets and other particulates.
Learn how this technology can help optimize processes, minimize the number of experiments, improve product quality, get products to market quicker and support the move towards continuous manufacturing.
Once registered for the event you will be able to view the times in your time zone and ... Read More

An Assessment of Batch Powder Bin Blending Performance via PAT and DEM Simulation to Predict Blend Homogeneity
Dr. William (Bill) Ketterhagen I Senior Principal Research Engineer, AbbVie
In recent years, continuous mixing of powders has been a topic of great interest in the pharmaceutical industry. Despite these advances, many solid oral dosage manufacturing processes still rely on batch powder blending to mix incoming raw ingredients. In this work, we describe a comprehensive assessment of bin blending performance/blend homogeneity via calibrated DEM simulations and experiments with an acetaminophen formulation. A range of process conditions are examined including bin scale, rotation speed, and powder fill level. Various blend performance ... Read More

Multi-physics Modelling of Drug Product Manufacturing Processes
Dr. Ioannis Fragkopoulos I Senior Scientist, Novo Nordisk
Achieving efficiency and reliability in pharmaceutical manufacturing processes that involve particulate solids requires fundamental micro and macro mechanical insight beyond that obtainable through experiments alone. In this context, numerical methods such as the Discrete Element Method (DEM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) have significant potential to deliver a deeper understanding of process mechanics at macro and micro scales and can be used to directly perform virtual process optimisation. In this talk we discuss the ongoing use of DEM and CFD-DEM ... Read More

A Generic Framework for Digital Model Development
Dr. John Morrissey I Research Fellow School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh
Particulate products are widely used in industry, but manufacturing processes such as granulation or milling remain poorly understood. This is primarily because of the complexity of a typical particulate system involving particle–particle and particle–fluid interaction phenomena. Modelling of such particulate systems has become increasingly popular as a powerful means to gain insight into the phenomena that govern the particulate processes. However, it remains a challenge to translate reality into an efficient computational model.
This presentation describes an academic–industrial partnership project ... Read More


DEM Simulation of Flow Characteristics of Digital Flavor Encapsulation Particles
Dr. Rutger M.T. van Sleeuwen I Principal Scientist, Materials Science R&D, Firmenich, Inc.
Brandon Woo I Firmenich, Inc.
Stefan Pantaleev I Senior Application Engineer, Altair
Flavor delivery systems are widely used in food applications such as coffee, tea, powdered soft drinks and chewing gum to protect volatile flavors and deliver them to in a consumer application upon a specific trigger (e.g., dissolution). It is important that these flavor particles are stable against elevated humidity and temperature conditions, and they should ideally have excellent flow properties without the help of flow aids.
In this application study we apply Discrete Element Methodology modeling to simulate the flow ... Read More

Troubleshooting During Drug Product Development – Utilizing DEM for Root Cause Analysis
Dr. Karsten Flügel I Principal Scientist, Merck Healthcare KGaA
Developing a drug into a drug product is a challenging and time-consuming undertaking. In particular, transferring the drug product manufacturing process from development to production scale is exceptionally critical and sometimes associated with unforeseen issues, which are only occurring in larger scales. Additionally, changes in material properties can heavily impact the processability of the material, but the significance of certain changes is often not easily predictable. In both cases, DEM has proven itself to be valuable in providing insights and ... Read More
10:35 AM (London) / 11:35 AM (Paris) / 3:35 PM (New Delhi)
10:35 AM (San Francisco) / 1:35 PM (New York)
In this session discover new and emerging applications of DEM for additive manufacturing, batteries, automotive, and more.
Look forward to presentations from Sumitomo Mining Metals, University of Sheffield, TU Munich and Pratt & Miller.


Soft-Soil Mobility Modeling w/ PM-FlexTire, Altair® EDEM™ & MotionSolve®
Doug Louth I Sr. Technology Fellow, Pratt & Miller Engineering & Fabrication, LLC
Kumar Periannan I Technical Expert, Pratt & Miller Engineering & Fabrication, LLC
Soft-Soil Mobility Modeling has lagged behind on-road mobility modeling primarily due to the limitations of available soil and corresponding tire models. Pratt Miller in collaboration with Altair’s EDEM and MotionSolve teams have developed breakthrough soft-soil mobility simulation capability. The coupling of EDEM’s state of the art DEM soil modeling solution and a new flexible, pneumatic, treaded tire model, PM-FlexTire, it is now possible to extend what is possible via virtual development early in the PD process. This limits or avoids ... Read More

Numerical Design and Manufacturing of Lithium-ion Battery Electrodes using Discrete Element Method (DEM) Modelling
Dr. Ruihuan Ge I Faraday Institution Research Fellow, The University of Sheffield
The ever increasing demand for renewable energy worldwide means that developing efficient energy storage techniques are of critical importance. Materials in particulate forms are commonly used in essential energy storage systems, e.g. lithium-ion battery electrodes. In this project, Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulation is used to investigate the calendering process of lithium-ion battery electrodes. By combining DEM, X-ray computed tomography and electrochemical analysis, electrode mechanical and structural properties were investigated. Detailed stress and structural evolutions at microscopic particle scale were ... Read More

Coarse-Grained DEM Simulation of Particle Behavior and Heat Transfer for Large Scale Equipment
Dr. Motoaki Saruwatari I Research Scientist, Computer Aided Engineering and Development, Sumitomo Metal Mining Co LTD., Japan
Hideya Nakamura I Department of Chemical Engineering, Osaka Metropolitan University, Japan
Recent improvements in computer performance have made it possible to simulate the behavior of many particles and heat transfer using the discrete element method (DEM). However, in the case of large scale equipment in industries, simulating particle behavior and heat transfer using DEM is still difficult due to a large number of particles required. To address this issue, we have developed the newly coarse-grained method named the Modified Coarse-grained method for Granular Shear Flow (M-CGSF)[1]. In this study, we conducted ... Read More

Discrete-Element-Simulations in Lithium-Ion Battery Production
Johannes Lindenblatt I Research Associate, Technische Universität München
High-performance and low-cost batteries have become a key feature in various applications, critical for reaching climate protection goals. Battery production requires significant improvements to achieve energy density and cost targets. The battery production process chain comprises many consecutive process steps significantly influenced by the material properties and electrode compositions. Therefore, it is crucial to deeply understand how the production processes affect the battery cell and determine what special requirements the battery production processes must fulfill. By creating Discrete-Element-Simulations, the processes ... Read More

Right Approach for Chute Design-Handling Alternative Fuels in Cement Plants
Kapil Kukreja I Group Manager & Programme Leader - Project Engineering and System Design, National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCCBM)
The Indian Cement industry is targeting to replace 25% of coal by utilizing Alternative Fuels (AFs) by 2030. However, available AFs in India have different characteristics & properties, and handling multiple types of AFs with a single system is a challenge. Although the technical know-how for AFs material handling equipment is well established now, yet the transfer of material from one equipment to another through a transfer chute may lead to jamming issues if the chute is not designed as ... Read More