Using EDEM with EnSight

Using EDEM with EnSight

Copyrights
Copyright © 2002-2008 DEM Solutions. All rights reserved.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice. The software described in this
document is furnished under a license agreement or nondisclosure agreement. The software may
be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of those agreements. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or any
means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording for any purpose other than
the purchaser’s personal use without the written permission.

DEM Solutions
20 York Place
Edinburgh
EH1 3EP
UK
www.dem-solutions.com

EDEM incorporates CADfix translation technology. CADfix is owned, supplied by and Copyright ©
TranscenData Europe Limited, 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Trademarks
EDEM and Particle Factory are trademarks or registered trademarks of DEM Solutions in the
United Kingdom and/or other countries. Fluent is a registered trademark of Fluent Inc. in the
United States and/or other countries. EnSight is a registered trademark of Computational
Engineering International, Inc (“CEI”). Other brands and their products are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be noted as such.

Licensing
EDEM licensing uses Sentinel RMS. See the SafeNet website (www.safenet-inc.com) for details.

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Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 4
Exporting Data from FLUENT and EDEM........................................................................ 4
Exporting Data for an Image ........................................................................................ 4
Exporting Data for an Animation .................................................................................. 4
Creating a 2-Phase Image or Animation .......................................................................... 5
Open the Files Created in FLUENT and EDEM ........................................................... 5
Create a Clip Plane...................................................................................................... 6
Hide Any Unwanted Geometry..................................................................................... 7
Color the Clip Plane and Particles ............................................................................... 8
Scale the Particles ....................................................................................................... 9
Set the Background Color and Labels.......................................................................... 9
Create a 2-Phase Animation ...................................................................................... 10
Save the Animation.................................................................................................... 11

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Introduction
This document gives a step-by-step example of how to use EDEM with CEI’s EnSight to
create two-phase images and video animations. The example files used are available
from the Customer Area on the DEM Solutions website (http://www.dem-solutions.com).

Exporting Data from FLUENT and EDEM

Exporting Data for an Image
FLUENT
1. Select Read > Case & Data then open the files with the required timestep.
2. Select File > Export > EnSight Case Gold.
3. Under Functions to Write, select the required fluid parameters, such as Velocity
Magnitude (Fluid).
4. Click Write to save the EnSight files.
EDEM
1. Select the Analyst then open the relevant EDEM file.
2. Select File > Export Data then create a new Configuration ID.
3. Set the Export Format to EnSight.
4. Uncheck the All option under timesteps then set the required start and end times.
5. Select the Queries tab then create a new query. Select the required particle
properties (such as Velocity Magnitude).
6. Click Export Data.

Exporting Data for an Animation

FLUENT
1. Select File > Export.
2. Set the filetype to EnSight Case Gold and enable the Transient checkbox.
3. The append frequency modifies the number of times the data is written out. An
append frequency of 1 will write out every fluent timestep.
4. Under Functions to Write, select the required fluid parameters. For example,
Velocity Magnitude (Fluid).
5. Enter a filename then select Apply and Close. Fluent creates the EnSight files
during the simulation.

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EDEM
Once the EDEM simulation is complete:
1. Select the Analyst then open the relevant EDEM file.
2. Select File > Export Data then create a new Configuration ID.
3. Set the Export Format to EnSight.
4. If necessary, uncheck the All option under timesteps then set the required start
and end times.
5. Select the Queries tab then create a new query. Select the required particle
properties (such as Velocity Magnitude).
6. Select Export Data.

Creating a 2-Phase Image or Animation

The examples below use the files edem_example.case (exported from EDEM) and
fluent_example.encas (exported from FLUENT).

Open the Files Created in FLUENT and EDEM

1. From EnSight, select File > Open then navigate to the .encas file you exported
from Fluent. Click OK.
2. Select File > Open again then navigate to the .case file you exported from
EDEM using the default values in EnSight.

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Create a Clip Plane

Create a clip plane to display fluid velocity contours. In this example, Case 1 is the fluid
data and Case 2 is the EDEM particle data.
1. Highlight fluid in Case 1.
2. Select the Clip tool.
3. Select the axis to create a Mesh Slice (the Y-axis in this example).
4. Click Create. The new Clip plane is created as an object under Case 1.

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Hide Any Unwanted Geometry

Since the geometry from both EDEM and FLUENT is identical, hide the redundant
geometry.
1. Highlight all of the geometry in Case 1 except for the newly created clip plane.
2. Click the Visibility button to toggle off the visibility of the selected geometry.

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Color the Clip Plane and Particles

Color the clip plane by fluid velocity and the particles by particle velocity.
1. Highlight the Clip plane in Case 1 then click the Color/transparency button. The
Part Color window is displayed.
2. Select the fluid’s Velocity Magnitude then click Close.
3. Highlight New Particle 1 in Case 2 then click the Color/transparency tab.
4. Select VelocityMagnitude then click Close.
5. Click the Display Shaded Surfaces button to change the view from a colored
mesh to graded colored contours.

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Scale the Particles

Change the particle view from a point to a sphere
1. Highlight the particles.
2. Click the Node Representation button.
3. Set the values depending on which version of EDEM you have:
 EDEM 1.3 and earlier: set Type = sphere, Size = Scalar, Variable = Radius,
Scale = 2
 EDEM 1.3.1 and later: set Type = sphere, Size = Scalar, Variable = Diameter,
Scale = 1

Set the Background Color and Labels

Optionally set the background color and modify the legend labels. The background color
can be changed from the VPORT > Selected viewport(s) background color tab. The
legend can be modified from the ANNOT > Create/edit text strings tab.

The image can now be saved using File > Save > Image.

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Create a 2-Phase Animation

1. Click the Flipbook animation button.
2. Set the Load Type to Transient and Load As to Images.
3. Click the Load button to load each frame for the animation.
Once the data is loaded, the video will automatically begin to play. Use the Display
Speed slider to adjust the speed of the animation.

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Save the Animation

With the animation playing:
1. Click the Record current graphics window animation button.
2. Set the number of frames to record.
3. Set the file format, for example save as an AVI or MPEG video.
4. Set the file prefix (location).
5. Click OK to save the animation.

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