Setting Up Solution History Files and Running the Simulation

In this exercise, you set up two solution histories: one for the auger blade movement, and the other for the Lagrangian DEM pellets.

The simulation history for the auger blade records movement of the blade, which is specified through the selection of Rotation as the motion of the Rotor region. With the simulation history file, you are only recording data for the relevant boundary surfaces rather than for the entire region. This approach saves considerable disk space.

The simulation history for the pellets records their movement using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) of modeling particles. The pellets enter the auger using Lagrangian injectors; these injectors include specification of the height and radius of the cylindrical pellets on entry in the auger casing. For calculating the height and radius generally, global parameters are used. For more information about this helpful feature, see Using Tools > Global Parameters in the User Guide.

  1. Right-click the Solution Histories node and select New....
  2. Save the solution history file as Auger.
    Next to the new Auger node in the object tree, the red asterisk means that data is actively written to the file when the simulation runs. The Auto-record property controls this process.
  3. To choose what data to write to the solution history file, and the frequency of writing it, edit the Solution Histories > Auger node and set the following properties:
    Node Property Setting
    Auger Auto-record Activated
    Inputs

    In Regions > Rotor > Boundaries:

    • Auger
    • Shaft
    Update Trigger Time Step
    Time-Step Frequency Frequency 1

    The following properties help you make the best use of the simulation history feature:

    • Auto-record - When activated, the selected solution data is written to the simulation history file at the specified time intervals. When this option is activated, an asterisk appears besides the simulation history file node in the object tree. This property is activated by default.
    • Export for reporting - When activated, the export includes any auxiliary field functions that are required for all standard scalar and vector reports. This property is deactivated by default. See Simulation History Phase Data in the User Guide.
    • Export inputs at non-native locations - You would activate this property if you were to include standalone boundaries and surfaces in the simulation history file, and if you were likely to require smoothed data scenes in subsequent uses of the simulation history data. Activating this option can significantly increase the size of the simulation history file.
    • Inputs - This property lets you record only surface data to the .simh file, whereas selecting regions (using the Regions property) causes mesh data to be included. Since you are plotting the geometry at every time-step, the inclusion of mesh data would result in a much larger amount of recorded data.
  4. Create another solution history for the Lagrangian DEM for the pellets. Save the .simh file as Pellets.
  5. To choose what data to save to the solution history file, along with the frequency, edit the Pellets node and set properties as indicated in the table below. As this is a Lagrangian DEM case it is appropriate to store results for cylinder height, cylinder radius, and particle velocity.
    Node Property Setting
    Pellets Auto-record Activated
    Functions Within Particle:
    • Cylinder Height
    • Cylinder Radius
    • Particle Velocity > Laboratory > i
    • Particle Velocity > Laboratory > j
    • Particle Velocity > Laboratory > k
    Inputs Lagrangian Phases > Cylindrical DEM Phase
    Update Trigger Time Step
    Time-Step Frequency Frequency 1
  6. Click (Run) in the Solution toolbar.
    The Residuals display is not pertinent to this tutorial because only DEM particle behavior is of interest.
  7. After the run is finished, save the simulation.