Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM

Competencies: granular materials, complex fluids and fracture mechanics

SimPARTIX® can be used to model both granular materials and complex fluids in a natural way on the computer.

Where the dynamics of granular or fluid systems are to be investigated, then SimPARTIX® can provide users with detailed insights that are hardly possible with physical experiments.

Furthermore, a scientifically sound approach through specific simulation studies replaces expensive trial-and-error experimentation.

Owing to its particle-based approach, SimPARTIX® is ideal for applications with granular materials (e.g. powder). In this case every individual particle is simulated directly in the computer. It is also possible to model (complex) fluids and solids simply and efficiently. Even a coupling between solid and liquid phases, as occurs in suspensions, for example, can be handled without problems and is one of the strengths of SimPARTIX®.

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Granular materials

Granular materials represent an obvious range of applications for particle-based simulation. Compared with continuum mechanics methods, the particle-based approach allows materials to be analyzed at particle level. Physical phenomena such as friction and cohesion can be modeled directly. The form and size distribution of the particles are also handled realistically. One great advantage of simulation over experimentation is that particle properties can be varied independently of each other in order to investigate their effect on the...

Complex fluids

The particle-based simulation approach using smoothed particle hydrodynamics means that SimPARTIX® is ideal for simulating fluids under complicated boundary conditions. Besides a standard model for Newtonian fluids such as water, there are also physical models available for simulating media with complex rheological behavior (e.g. with thixotropy, i.e. a viscosity that changes over time, or with viscoelasticity). Typical fluids that can be simulated with SimPARTIX® include colloidal suspensions, pastes, polymer solutions and...

Suspension modeling

Particulate suspensions are used in many technical applications and industrial manufacturing processes. The macroscopic properties of a suspension, as the flow behavior or the viscosity, have usually a substantial influence on the quality of the final product. These properties on the other hand are closely linked to the microscopic aspects (e.g. the motion of a suspended particle in the surrounding fluid) which are not easily accessible through experimental investigation. The simulation is in this case a good way to gain insight into what is...

Surface tension

Surface tension is a natural phenomenon that appears every time a rain shower occurs. In technical applications the focus of interest lies particularly on the liquid-solid contact surfaces. Microfluidic devices and lab-on-chip applications for instance make use of wetting effects in order to implement valves and other means of flow control. Technical applications often include wetting effects of complex moving geometries as well as structured surfaces. Hence, the SPH method can be well suited for simulating such problems because of its meshfree...

Materials modeling

Elastic or plastic material deformations are the response of a work piece due to strong external forces on the work piece. If a critical deformation limit is exceeded, ductile or brittle failure mechanisms are initiated. The quantitative description of the deformation and failure behavior of different materials allow the optimization of a wide range of industrial applications...

Co-simulation

The possibility of coupling discrete element method (DEM) and finite element analysis (FEA) simulations is particularly attractive in order to model contact between granular matter and soft bodies. Co-simulations using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and FEA are useful to model fluid-structure interaction (FSI) phenomena including large deformations.

Co-simulation in the cases presented here means the controlled exchange of quantities on the coupled walls between two...

Publications

The foundations for industrial applications: SimPARTIX^® is used intensively in research, too...