EDEM versions

v2.6 [Oct 6, 2014]
What is this new release about?
The main theme of this release is ‘Do Even More’! With EDEM 2.6 we are providing our users with additional features and capabilities while improving the software workflow so that users can be more productive and get more out of EDEM. We work closely with our customers and attach high importance to their feedback and suggestions. As a result, EDEM features and capabilities are being developed specifically to meet customer needs.
What is the main highlight of this release?
A key feature in this new version of EDEM relates to changes to our licensing system, which will have a direct impact on customers’ productivity. Users will now be able to make use of our pre-processing (EDEM Creator) and post-processing (EDEM Analyst) environments at the same time as running a simulation. This means that instead of waiting around for a simulation to finish, they will be able to set up their next simulation or analyse results while the simulation is running in the background. This will enable them to spend more time post-processing simulations and making full use of EDEM analysis tools. In addition, it will now be easier to prepare multiple simulations ahead of time and have them run continuously using EDEM ‘batch mode’ capabilities. This will be helpful for all users but probably most noticeable to those updating or calibrating a material model which typically involves running many small scale simulations.
If you had to pick your 3 favourite new features what would they be?
A key feature that will benefit customers notably in heavy equipment manufacturing relates to wear modelling. EDEM 2.6 now provides greater insight into the potential for equipment wear by allowing users to visualize the energy imparted through material contact directly on the equipment surface. Two wear models are available as standard, helping users identify if an area suffers ‘impact’ type strikes or more ‘abrasive’ wear. An additional model is also available for users who want to calibrate a model to give an estimation of wear depth.
The second one I would mention, are the enhancements that were made to the EDEM Coupling Interface which allows EDEM to be coupled with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) packages and Multi-Body Dynamics (MBD) packages. The interface now offers more functionality as well as being more robust and stable. We have identified a few areas where the coupling interface can be extended to allow ‘design of experiments’ studies. Some of our customers wanted to evolve their designs by directly modifying the CAD geometries during the simulation, based on the particle loading from EDEM. The new capability now enables the replacement of geometries on the fly and to import and delete geometry sections at any point during co-simulation.
The 3rd feature I would pick is a new FEA export function that we implemented that allows users to export force data from EDEM to import directly into ANSYS® Mechanical. Work is also underway to expand this to further FEA tools in future versions of EDEM.