EDEM Tutorial:

Heat Transfer

Revision 2.2/2
 EDEM Tutorial: Heat Transfer

Introduction
This tutorial describes how to create a simulation that uses the Heat Transfer feature.
The model shows heat being transferred between hot and cold particles.

Time = 1.42s Time = 14.92s

1. Start EDEM then select File > Save As

2. Select a location on the local machine (e.g. C:\EDEM_Tutorials).
3. Enter a file name (e.g. Heat_Transfer_Tutorial.dem) and click Save.

EDEM Creator: Setting up the model

Step 1: Set the Global Model Parameters
Choose the units
The first step in creating the model is to set the units used throughout EDEM.
1. Go to the Options > Units menu.
2. Change the following measurement units:
Temperature to K
Length to mm

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 EDEM Tutorial: Heat Transfer

Enter the model title and description

The model title and description will appear in the Data Browser window.
1. Click on the Globals tab in the Tabs pane.
2. Enter the title Heat Transfer in the Title field in the Simulation section.

Set the physics models

1. Select Particle to Particle from the Interaction pulldown in the Physics section.
2. Select Hertz-Mindlin (no slip) then click the x button to remove it.
3. Click the + button then select Hertz-Mindlin with Heat Conduction:

4. Select Particle Body Force from the Interaction pulldown in the Physics section.
5. Click the + button then select Temperature Update:

Set the gravity and define the material

1. Be sure gravity is set to -9.81 m/s 2 in the Z direction.
2. In the Materials section, click the Transfer button to open the Material/Interactions
Transfer dialog.
3. Transfer Medium-stiffness from the materials database to your simulation.
4. Click OK then rename the material plastic.

Define the interactions between the materials

1. Select plastic from the drop-down list at the top of the materials section.
2. Click the + button in the Interaction section. Select plastic when prompted.

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 EDEM Tutorial: Heat Transfer

Step 2: Define the Base Particles

Create the particle

1. Click on the Particle tab in the Tabs pane.
2. Click the + button and type a name Plastic Ball in the Name field.
3. Set the radius of the surface to 40 mm.
4. Click the Calculate Properties button and pick the Surfaces option.

Step 3: Define the Geometry

Create a box
1. Click on the Geometry tab.
2. Click the + button to create a new box.
3. Click the Box tab. Set the box specification as follows:

Create the particle factory plate

1. Click the + button to create a new polygon called Factory.
2. Click on the polygon tab and set the specification as follows:

3. Click on the Details tab and set the type to virtual.

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 EDEM Tutorial: Heat Transfer

Step 4: Configure the Physics

Configure the contact model

1. Click on the Globals tab.
2. Select the Hertz-Mindlin with Heat Conduction contact model from the Particle to
Particle interaction then click the configure button.
3. Set the Thermal Conductivity to 1000.

Configure the particle body force

1. Select Particle Body Force from the Interaction pulldown menu.
2. Select Temperature Update then click the configure button.
3. Set the Heat Capacity to 50.

Step 5: Create the Particle Factories

Create two particle factories one will produce hot particles and the other cold.

Create the hot particle factory

1. Click on the Factories tab.
2. Click the + button to create a new factory. Rename it Hot Factory.
3. Be sure the factory type is dynamic.
4. Set the Total Number to 1.

Set the hot factorys initial conditions

1. Be sure Factory is selected in the Section pulldown.
2. Configure the Temperature to be fixed and set a value of 400 K.

Create the cold particle factory

1. Click the + button again to create a new factory. Rename it Cold Factory.
2. Be sure the factory type to Dynamic.
3. Set the Total Number to 2.
4. Set the Target number (per second) to 10 particles/s.
5. Set the Start Time to 1 s.

Set the cold factorys initial conditions

3. Be sure Factory is selected in the Section pulldown.
4. Click the Configure Temperature to be sure the value is 300 K.
5. Select File > Save.

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 EDEM Tutorial: Heat Transfer

EDEM Simulator: Run the Simulation

Step 1: Set the Time Options
Set the time step
1. Click on the Simulator button:
2. Set the fixed time step to 0.00015s.

Set the simulation time and grid options

1. Set the total simulation time to 15s.
2. Set the write out frequency to 0.001s.
3. Set the full data save to be every 1 write-out (in other words, every write-out will
contain all possible data).
4. Set the grid size to 2 Rmin.

Step 2: Run the Simulation

1. Click the Start progress button at the bottom of the simulation window.

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 EDEM Tutorial: Heat Transfer

EDEM Analyst: Analyzing Your Results

Step 1: Configuring the Display
Configure the geometry
1. Switch to the Analyst and click the Model tab.
2. Set the Display Mode to Mesh then click Apply.

Step 2: Coloring Elements

1. Click the Coloring tab.
2. In the Attribute Coloring section, select attribute Temperature.
3. Enable the Show Legend checkbox.
4. Uncheck the Auto-update options then set the minimum value (blue) to 300K and
the maximum value (red) to 400K:

5. Click Apply.

Step 3: Adding Labels

1. Click the + button in the text area of the Viewer Controls.
2. Replace Message 1 with the label Initially Hot.
3. Set the text color to Red.
4. Enable the Position Text checkbox then click in the viewer to place the label.
5. Repeat to add a blue Initially Cold label.
6. Uncheck the Position Text checkbox.

Step 3: Review the Simulation

1. In the Viewer Controls, select time as the Step Factor and set it to 0.02 seconds.
2. Run the simulation. A hot ball is created followed by two cold balls a second later.
Note how heat is transferred over time between the three balls.

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