A parallel coupling framework for DEM-MBD: Model verification and application

Abstract

Bulk material handling equipment can be numerically studied using the DEM-MBD method, where the particulate dynamics are solved by DEM (Discrete Element Method) and the motion characteristics of the mechanical components are modeled by MBD (Multi-Body Dynamics). In this work, a two-way coupling framework is proposed for the co-simulation of our self-developed DEM solver (DEMSLab) with the commercial MBD software (RecurDyn) using a parallel staggered coupling approach. To verify the proposed coupling method, the simulation result of a torsional spring damper system is compared with the corresponding analytical solution. After that, to assess the feasibility of this method in industrial-scale applications, a series of simulations involving a wheel loader is carried out. Different simulation conditions are adopted to reveal their impact on computational efficiency and simulation accuracy. These conditions include the mesh representation of the equipment geometry, the MBD time step size, and the coupling interval. An improved mesh simplification algorithm is proposed and used to reasonably simplify the surface mesh of the wheel loader, thus lowering the computational intensity of particle-wall interactions in DEM. The comparison results indicate that the computational time can be largely saved while the simulation accuracy remains considerably high. The MBD step size and coupling interval are crucial for numerical stability and should be selected carefully.