At a time when simulation technologies are not well established in the mining industry, DEM Solutions introduced its EDEM software as a key engineering tool for mining and mineral processing equipment.

Based on its recent analysis of engineering simulation for the mining industry, business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan has acknowledged DEM Solutions with the 2013 Global Frost & Sullivan Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award.

Rather than position it as a standalone application, DEM Solutions provided flexibility to integrate the application of the EDEM software into the existing set of computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools and capitalise on the investments that have already been made DEM Solutions used a top-down approach, compared with the industry norm of using a bottom-up strategy, which enabled it to build a flexible and scalable tool.
“Despite operating in a nascent market, DEM Solutions has a strong EDEM user community and connects users through forums, conferences and networking events, which are essential for an emerging technology,” says Frost & Sullivan senior industry analyst Naveen Kumar Ramasamy.

“In addition to servicing its industry customers with state-of-the-art DEM software and providing support for commercial applications, the company also provides a unique range of options to meet academic research and teaching needs. Its EDEM Academic Partner Program fuels innovation and helped the company stay afloat during the economic downturn.”
As part of its strategy to accelerate market adoption of its EDEM software, the company has built strong relationships with complementary technology companies and has partnered with software companies, such as Ansys, MSC, producers of 3D design software Dassault Systèmes and multinational software corporation Microsoft, as well as with hardware companies like AMD and SGI.
DEM Solutions, through its EDEM software, is witnessing at least 20% to 25% growth every year, with significant contributions and growth potential from the mining sector.

It has also partnered with seve- ral companies and academic insti- tutions to deal with simulation needs for bulk material handling systems and its EDEM software helps to strengthen the conceptual designs of several original-equipment manufacturers.
DEM Solutions developed methods of optimising an EDEM material model to sufficiently match the bulk properties with behaviour in the physical testing and deployed it in the cloud. This resulted in DEM Solutions reducing the computing duration of projects from weeks to hours.
“DEM Solutions designed its user interface in the EDEM package to be easily understood by engineers, ensuring a seamless workflow throughout the engineering design cycle,” notes Ramasamy.

“It also allows for the customi- sation of simulation models, includ- ing programmable interfaces, enabling the coupling of multi- physics simulation with other CAE software tools, such as structural mechanics, computational fluid dynamics and electromagnetics. This provides users with the flexibility to develop new simulation solutions and enables the company to address a wide spectrum of industry needs.”
Further, DEM Solutions launched its EDEM BulkSim software to enable customers in the mining industry to make informed decisions during the design cycle of bulk materials handling equipment critical to the mining production chain, such as chutes and conveyor transfer points. It also enables companies to uniquely deploy discrete element method (DEM) simulation in their engineering design without requiring users to be experts in DEM. This enables them to implement DEM simulation- based design methods much more easily to increase the reliability and productivity of equipment when commissioned.
The major concern in simulation technology is the computing time for complex problems. Hence, the market adoption of this kind of technology depends on advances in computer hardware, software and cloud computing.
DEM Solutions’ EDEM software can run on multicore parallel computers. The computing time ranges from hours to days, based on the complexity of material characteristics, behaviour and the rate of throughput. DEM Solutions delivers superior quality of information and a reduction in the time it takes to obtain the optimised design information.