Optimization of particle search algorithm for CFD-DEM simulations

Abstract

Discrete element method has numerous applications in particle physics. However, simulating particles as discrete entities can become costly for large systems. In time-driven DEM simulation most computation time is taken by contact search stage. We propose an efficient collision detection method which is based on sorting particles by their coordinates. Using multiple sorting criteria allows minimizing number of potential neighbours and defines fitness of this approach for simulation of massive systems in 3D. This method is compared to a common approach that consists of placing particles onto a grid of cells. Advantage of the new approach is independence of simulation parameters upon particle radius and domain size.