Comprehensive DEM-DPM-CFD simulations: Model synthesis, experimental validation and scalability

We report on the synthesis of the Discrete Element Method (DEM) modelling the behaviour of granular materials and a finite volume model for the continuous interstitial fluid using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). DEM captures the physics of granular materials best but is computationally time-consuming. For this reason, the DEM is complemented by a Discrete Phase Model (DPM) for disperse granular flow in order to accelerate the overall simulation. In our case, both DEM and DPM are applied within one simulation by using spatial domain decomposition. The implementation of the code permits fully parallel simulations for all three models. We demonstrate the efficiency and validity of our approach by three validation examples and discuss the scalability of the coupling approach.