METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISCRETE ELEMENT MODELING INVOLVING A BULK MATERIAL

摘要

One embodiment of the invention provides a computer-implemented method for discrete element modelling of a plurality of discrete elements corresponding to particles and physical geometry elements. The modelling performs a simulation through time of physical interactions of the particles with each other and with the physical geometry elements in a three-dimensional space. The method comprises providing a plurality of discrete element material models, each discrete element material model corresponding to a respective bulk material and containing (i) information regarding the properties of particles within said bulk material, and (ii) information regarding the behaviour of interactions between such particles. The method further comprises receiving from a user: (i) a selection of a bulk material for use in a simulation, and (ii) a specification of properties associated with the selected bulk material. The method further comprises generating a set of particles of the selected bulk material for use in the simulation based on (i) the discrete element material model for the selected bulk material, and (ii) the properties of the bulk material specified by the user. The method further comprises performing a discrete element model simulation on said set of particles, wherein the simulation uses the information regarding the behavior of interactions between particles from the discrete element material model for the selected bulk material.