Newton

Discrete Element Modeling Software

User Manual – Revision 1.16

Advanced Conveyor Technologies, Inc.

th
19415 594 Ave - Mankato, MN 56001 - U.S.A.
Phone: 507-345-5748 e-mail: info@actek.com
Newton Discrete Element Modeling Software - Manual

Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 4
2 INSTALLATION ............................................................................................................................................... 5
2.1 LICENSING INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................6
2.2 NEWTON UPDATES ..........................................................................................................................................9
3 OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................................. 10
3.1 TERMINOLOGY ..............................................................................................................................................10
3.2 UNITS OF MEASURE .......................................................................................................................................10
3.3 MAIN NEWTON TOOLBAR ...............................................................................................................................11
3.4 MAIN MENUS...............................................................................................................................................12
3.4.1 File Menu .............................................................................................................................................12
3.4.2 Solver Menu .........................................................................................................................................13
3.4.3 Display Menu .......................................................................................................................................14
3.4.4 Help Menu............................................................................................................................................17
3.4.5 Library Menu ........................................................................................................................................17
3.5 USER PREFERENCES WINDOW..........................................................................................................................18
3.5.1 Rendering Preferences .........................................................................................................................18
3.5.2 System Preferences ..............................................................................................................................20
4 PRE-PROCESSING ........................................................................................................................................ 21
4.1 GENERAL SIMULATION VARIABLES ....................................................................................................................21
4.2 MATERIAL PROPERTIES ...................................................................................................................................26
4.3 IMPORTING GEOMETRY ..................................................................................................................................29
4.3.1 Layer Control ........................................................................................................................................29
4.3.2 Layer Surface Velocity Control .............................................................................................................32
4.3.3 Layer Deactivation ...............................................................................................................................33
4.3.4 Layer Movement and Cyclic Motion Control ........................................................................................33
4.3.5 Layer Friction Settings ..........................................................................................................................34
4.3.6 Layer Triangle Control ..........................................................................................................................35
4.3.7 Graphics Rendering Window ...............................................................................................................37
4.3.8 Killboxes ...............................................................................................................................................39
4.3.9 Layer Movement Profiles .....................................................................................................................40
4.4 BELT GEOMETRY ...........................................................................................................................................46
4.4.1 Creating a 3-Roll or 5-Roll Conveyor Belt .............................................................................................47
4.4.2 Creating an Apron Feeder ....................................................................................................................53
4.4.3 Creating a Bucket Elevator...................................................................................................................54
4.4.4 Creating a Chain Feeder .......................................................................................................................57
4.4.5 Creating an En Masse Feeder ..............................................................................................................59
4.5 MATERIAL GENERATION .................................................................................................................................62
4.5.1 Newton Particles ..................................................................................................................................62
4.5.2 Particle Generation ..............................................................................................................................63
4.5.3 Generating Particle Chains ..................................................................................................................74
4.6 PARTICLE SET LIBRARY ....................................................................................................................................78
4.6.1 Size Distribution Curves ........................................................................................................................79
4.6.2 Group List .............................................................................................................................................81
4.6.3 Merge/Export Libraries ........................................................................................................................83
4.7 CLUSTER CREATOR .........................................................................................................................................85
4.7.1 Main Window ......................................................................................................................................85
4.7.2 Transform Cluster Window ..................................................................................................................88

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5 RUNNING A SIMULATION ............................................................................................................................ 89

5.1 FILE QUEUE ..................................................................................................................................................89
5.2 STARTING A SIMULATION ................................................................................................................................91
5.2.1 General Simulation Information ..........................................................................................................91
5.2.2 Rendering Window Context Menu .......................................................................................................92
5.3 SURFACE AND MATERIAL VISUALIZATION ...........................................................................................................94
5.3.1 Modifying Layer View Settings.............................................................................................................94
5.3.2 Particle Color Mode .............................................................................................................................96
5.3.3 Particle Style, Outline Tolerance ..........................................................................................................99
5.3.4 Clip Boxes ...........................................................................................................................................100
5.3.5 Color Scale..........................................................................................................................................101
6 POST-PROCESSING .................................................................................................................................... 102
6.1 UNCOMPRESSED PLAYBACK FILES (*.UCM) .....................................................................................................102
6.1.1 Merging Playback Files ......................................................................................................................102
6.1.2 Exporting a Playback File to a DXF File ..............................................................................................103
6.1.3 Reducing and Repairing Playback Files ..............................................................................................105
6.2 CALCULATING THE SOLIDS RATIO FOR A PARTICLE SET .........................................................................................107
6.2.1 Calculating Solids Ratio ......................................................................................................................107
6.2.2 Setting Material Properties Parameters ............................................................................................110
6.3 PLAYBACK FRAMES (*.PBF) ..........................................................................................................................113
6.4 CREATING ANIMATIONS ................................................................................................................................114
6.4.1 AVI Creator Window ..........................................................................................................................114
6.4.2 Choosing an Animation Resolution ....................................................................................................117
6.4.3 Creating and Removing Key Frames ..................................................................................................117
6.4.4 Modifying View Settings for Key Frames ...........................................................................................119
6.4.5 Analyzing Work on Particles and Chute Surfaces ...............................................................................119
6.4.6 Analyzing Perpendicular and Parallel Triangle Forces .......................................................................124
6.5 PLOTTING WINDOW ....................................................................................................................................130
6.5.1 Plotting Tonnage................................................................................................................................130
6.5.2 Plotting Work .....................................................................................................................................131
6.5.3 Plotting Triangle Forces .....................................................................................................................133
7 REFERENCE PAPERS ................................................................................................................................... 135

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Newton Discrete Element Modeling Software - Manual

1 Introduction
Thank you for your interest in our Newton Discrete Element Modeling software. This manual will discuss
how to use the Newton software, and describes the meanings of all input and output data.
This manual assumes that the reader is familiar with the basic principles of the Discrete Element Method
(DEM). It is not meant to be a tutorial on DEM, nor is it intended to be an instruction manual on how to
design conveyor belt transfer chutes.
If you have questions about the Newton software that are not addressed in this manual, direct them to
info@actek.com and we will respond as soon as possible.

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2 Installation
The Newton software consists of two parts. These are the software installation CD-ROM and a Sentinel
USB hardware dongle. Newton is supported under Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Figure 2.0.1 – Newton CD-ROM and License Key

The files on the Newton CD-ROM are shown in Figure 2.0.2.

Figure 2.0.2 – Files on Newton CD-ROM

To install Newton insert the CD-ROM into your computer. The following items on the Newton CD-ROM
must be installed:

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setup.exe Installs the main Newton program

directx_Jun2010_redist.exe Installs required DirectX components
HASPUserSetup.exe Installs drivers for the USB key
Additionally, you may install the Xvid codec (Xvid-1.3.2.exe) which you can use for creating animation
files in Newton. If you prefer to use another codec to encode your animation files, you may install your
own.
Newton will install two directories on your computer. The root Newton directory contains all required
Newton installation files and the main Newton.exe executable. The Examples directory contains
various example files, and Newton tutorial files which accompany the video tutorial series.

2.1 Licensing Information

There are two different license types for Newton. The differences between them are outlined in this
section.

Particle Features Basic Professional

Maximum number of clusters 125,000 1,000,000
Maximum number of generation locations 1 5
Material friction/cohesion properties 1 Unlimited
# of simultaneous friction/cohesion sets 1 3
Create custom cluster shapes No Yes
Import custom cluster shapes via CSV or DXF No Yes
Create custom particle sets Yes Yes
Simulate hanging chains using clusters No Yes
Record cluster impact and abrasive wear No Yes
Geometry Features Basic Professional
Max # of imported layers via DXF or STL 5 30
Max total layer count 15 50
Automatic belt generation in Newton 1 Belt 3 Belts
Simulate Apron Feeders No Yes
Simulate Bucket Elevators No Yes
Simulate Chain Feeders No Yes
Simulate En Masse Feeders No Yes
Specify surface properties per-layer Yes Yes
Assign layers surface velocity Yes Yes
Assign layers linear/rotational motion Yes Yes
Assign layers linear/rotational cyclic motion No Yes
Create custom layer movement profiles No Yes
Record layer impact and abrasive wear No Yes
Record layer forces No Yes
Insert particle killboxes Up to 10 Up to 10

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Solver Basic Professional

Multi-Core Processing Up to 16 Cores Up to 16 Cores
Simulation File Queuing No Yes
Solver Licenses (more can be purchased) 1 1
Network License Sharing No Yes
Post-Processing Features Basic Professional
Key-Frame animation generation Yes Yes
Single-frame playback file generation Yes Yes
Export layers and particles to DXF file Yes Yes
Plot and export tonnage data to CSV file Yes Yes
Plot and export wear data to CSV file No Yes
Plot and export force data to CSV file No Yes
Pre/Post-Processing Concurrent Users 0 2
Free ‘Newton Viewer’ software distribution to
Yes Yes
enable clients to view playback files

Note that if you have purchased the professional version, you may run up to 3 instances of Newton on
your network using one license. Only 1 of those instances of Newton can be running a simulation, but
the other 2 instances may be performing pre and post processing, such as setting up simulations,
viewing playback files, or creating animation files. Newton automatically detects the USB license
through your computer network. If you have purchased the Basic version, only 1 instance of Newton
can be running per license.

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To view the settings for your USB license, open a web browser on the machine that contains the license,
and type http://localhost:1947 in the URL bar. This will open the Sentinel Admin Control Center, shown
in Figure 2.1.1.

Figure 2.1.1– Sentinel Admin Control Center

From here, you can view information about all USB licenses currently connected to the network. For
more information about the Sentinel license keys, see HASP HL NET Configuration.pdf on the Newton
CD-ROM.

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2.2 Newton Updates

After installation you may want to check for any new Newton updates. This can be done by selecting
Check for Updates found under the Help menu. You will need internet access for this process to
complete.

Figure 2.2.1 – Updating Newton

If an update is found Newton will prompt you to automatically download and install the update.

Figure 2.2.2 – Updating Newton

After the download is complete Newton will step you though the remaining update process.

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3 Overview

3.1 Terminology
This section defines and describes some important terms that are used throughout this manual.
DEM: An acronym for the Discrete Element Method, a simulation method which records and tracks the
position, orientation, force, velocity, etc. of each individual particle using a discrete time-stepping
scheme.
Sphere: A sphere is the base unit of material in Newton. All material is created using spheres.
Cluster: This is a typical unit of material in Newton. Groups of spheres are arranged to form rigid
particles called clusters. A cluster can be composed of any number of spheres.
Particle: This is a general term for a piece of material, either a sphere or a cluster.
Time-Step: Newton uses an explicit time stepping scheme. This means that at a single instant in time,
Newton calculates the position, orientation, and velocity of each particle. Then the simulation ‘steps
through’ a specific length of time (usually on the order of a few microseconds) and repeats all
calculations. The time-step is defined as this length of time.
Triangle: Newton imports geometry from CAD files in the form of triangles. Each layer in the CAD
model contains hundreds or thousands of triangles. The term ‘triangle’ refers to one of these triangles
on a specific layer of the geometry.
Runtime: This is the length of real time that is required for Newton to run a simulation. Runtimes can
vary from a few hours to a few weeks, depending primarily on the number and size of the particles. This
can also be referred to as computation time.
Neighbor: For each particle, Newton maintains a list of ‘Nearest Neighbor’ particles that could
potentially be in contact with the particle. These neighbor particles are checked for contact at every
time step. The neighbor list is periodically updated.
Cell: The simulation domain is discretized into cubic cells. The location of each sphere, cluster, and
triangle includes a reference to which cell it is in. These cells are used to track particle and triangle
movement and contact.
Rendering Window: Many of the input pages in Newton contain an area where the particles and/or
chute geometry is rendered using DirectX. These renderings can be panned, orbited, and zoomed. The
sections of the window where these renderings appear are called Rendering Windows.

3.2 Units of Measure

Newton uses the following metric units of measurement, unless otherwise stated:
Time: Seconds (s, sec)
Length: Meters (m) or millimeters (mm)
Velocity: Meters per second (m/s)
Force: Newtons (N)
Work: Joules (J)

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3.3 Main Newton Toolbar

The main Newton toolbar contains quick shortcuts to most commonly used input and output data
windows. Figure 3.3.1 shows the buttons on the main Newton toolbar.

Figure 3.3.1 – Newton Main Toolbar

# Name Description More Info
1 Open Input File Opens an existing input file
2 Save Input File Saves the current input file
3 Open Playback File Opens an existing playback file
4 Save Playback File Saves a playback frame (*.pbf) Section 6.3
5 General Variables Opens the general variables window Section 4.1
6 Material Properties Opens the material properties window Section 4.2
7 Geometry Opens the geometry window Section 4.3
8 Material Generator Opens the material generator window Section 4.5
9 Particle Library Opens the particle library Section 4.6
10 Cluster Creator Opens the cluster creator window Section 4.7
11 Pan Pans the model in the rendering window
12 Orbit Rotates the model in the rendering window
13 Zoom Zooms the model in the rendering window
14 Zoom Window Specifies a region to zoom
15 Top View Rotates the model to top view
16 Bottom View Rotates the model to bottom view
17 Left View Rotates the model to left view
18 Right View Rotates the model to right view
19 Front View Rotates the model to front view
20 Back View Rotates the model to back view
21 NW View Rotates the model to a NW view
22 NE View Rotates the model to a NE view
23 SE View Rotates the model to a SE view
24 SW View Rotates the model to a SW view
25 Saved Views Opens the menu to load and save views
26 Screenshot Captures a screenshot in PNG format
27 SMV Window Opens the SMV window Section 5.3
28 AVI Creator Opens the AVI Creator window Section 6.4
29 Plotting Window Opens the Plotting window Section 6.5
30 Rewind to Start Rewinds the playback file to the first frame
31 Rewind One Frame Rewinds the playback file by one frame
32 Play Plays the playback file
33 Stop Stops playback of the playback file
34 Advance One Frame Steps the playback file forward by one frame
35 Advance to End Steps the playback file to the final frame
36 Go To Percent Jumps the playback file to a specific percent
37 Go To Time Jumps the playback file to a specific time

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3.4 Main Menus

The function of each command on each Newton dropdown menu is described in this section.

3.4.1 File Menu

Figure 3.4.1 shows a snapshot of the File menu. The File menu contains the ability to create, open, and
save Newton input and playback files.

Figure 3.4.1 – File dropdown menu

New Input File: Discards all current input file information and any current simulation information,
generating a new template for a Newton simulation. This action cannot be undone, and any unsaved
input file information will be lost.
Open Input File: Brings up a file prompt window, so you can open a newton input file (*.NWT). Newton
input files contain all pre-processing simulation parameters, chute geometry, and generated particles.
Input files do not contain simulation data.
Recent Files: Maintains a list of recently opened Newton input files for quick access.
Open File Queue: Opens the file queuing window, which can store up to 20 Newton input files to run
automatically. (See Section 5.1)
Open File Location: If a file has been opened (input file or playback file), or if a simulation is running,
this will start a new Windows Explorer session and navigate to the folder where the file is located. If the
file has been deleted, a message box will alert you that the file no longer exists.
Save: Saves the current Newton input file.
Save As: Saves a copy of the current Newton input file to the specified location, and opens that new
copy for editing.
Open Playback File: Brings up a file prompt window, so you can open an uncompressed Newton
playback file (*.UCM), or a Newton playback frame (*.PBF). Playback files contain data about the
position and velocity of each particle for each frame of the simulation, and are generally very large files
(4-20 GB). Playback frame files contain positions and velocities of every particle for a single frame of the
simulation; playback frames are usually smaller than 5 MB.

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Save Playback Frame: If a Newton playback file is open, this command will save a Newton playback
frame for the current simulation frame.
Playback Tools: This submenu contains more commands for working with playback files.
Reduce Playback File: Opens a command window to modify and reduce the size of a playback
file. (See Section 6.1.3)
Merge Playback Files: Opens a command window to merge multiple playback files together.
(See Section 6.1.1)
Export Playback File to DXF: Exports the current playback frame to a .DXF CAD file. (See Section
6.1.2)
Preferences: Opens the window to modify user preferences. (See Section 3.6)
Exit: Closes all files and exits Newton.

3.4.2 Solver Menu

Figure 3.4.2 shows the Solver menu, which contains commands used during simulation runtime.

Figure 3.4.2 – Solver Menu

Run: Starts running the current simulation. Once the simulation starts, the input parameters cannot be
accessed or modified.
Pause Simulation: Pauses a running simulation.
Stop: Stops a running simulation. If you have the simulation set to create restart files, then Newton will
automatically save a restart file at the current time when you stop a simulation.
Restart: This command does not restart the current simulation. It brings up a file prompt so you can
navigate to and open a Newton restart file (*.RST). After you select the restart file, another window will
display, shown in Figure 3.4.3.

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Figure 3.4.3 – Newton Restart Popup Window

This window allows you to change a few of the input parameters. You can enter a new simulation stop
time. If you want to maintain the original simulation stop time, then leave the input box at 0 seconds.
If the directory or subdirectories to which the simulation data is saved needs to be changed, you can do
that here as well. The critical time ratio can be changed as well, and you can change whether Newton
uses a variable or constant time step.
Note: When you load a restart file, the current input file is closed and all unsaved information is lost.
Save Restart: This option is only available when a simulation is paused. Newton will save a restart file
at the current simulation time.
Material Generation Stop Time: Clicking this opens the window shown in Figure 3.4.4. You can end the
material generation earlier than was specified in the input file if you need to. The window specifies the
generation end time according to the input file as well as the current time to end generation. There is an
input box that allows you to change the end generation time.

Figure 3.4.4 – Stop Material Generation Early window

Calculate Solids Ratio: This opens a window that is used for calculate the solids ratio of a particle set.
(See Section 6.2.1)
Save Playback Frame: This saves a single-frame playback file (*.PBF) at the current simulation time.

3.4.3 Display Menu

The Display menu contains commands for rendering frames and playback files. Figures 3.4.5 through
3.4.9 show snapshots of the Display dropdown menu.

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Screen Capture: Captures a screenshot of the rendering window in PNG format.

Rendering Window Size: When you use Screen Capture to create a snapshot, the resolution of the
screenshot is based on the size of the rendering window. This menu allows you to quickly resize the
rendering window to some common sizes.

Figure 3.4.5 – Display menu with Window Size submenu open

Background Color: Allows you to modify the background color of the rendering window.
Playback Speed: When you are viewing a Newton playback file, you can specify how quickly you want to
proceed through the simulation by choosing Fast, Normal, or Slow. Additionally, you can enable frame
skipping, which forces Newton to render only 1 frame out of every 2, 5, 10, or 25 frames.

Figure 3.4.6 – Display menu with Playback Speed submenu open

Controls: This submenu contains commands identical to those in the Newton Playback Toolbar (see
Section 3.3)

Figure 3.4.7 – Display menu with Controls submenu open

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Surfaces: This submenu contains commands for setting the global view settings for the layers in the
simulation. The layers can be rendered as solid, transparent, wireframe, or outer-lines-only. This
submenu is only visible in playback mode or when a simulation is running. This also contains the
command to show normal vectors for all triangles.

Figure 3.4.8 – Display menu with Surfaces submenu open

Particles: This submenu contains commonly-used commands for setting the particle view settings. This
submenu is only visible in playback mode or when a simulation is running.

Figure 3.4.9 – Display menu with Particles submenu open

Visible: All particles will be visible in the rendering window.
Hidden: All particles will be hidden in the rendering window.
Disable Degradation: Temporarily disables adaptive degradation (see Section 3.5.1)
Color by Velocity: Changes the particle coloring mode to Color by Velocity.
Color by Cluster Type: Changes the particle coloring mode to Color by Cluster Type.
Color by CPU Thread: Changes the particle coloring mode to Color by CPU Thread. This option
is only available when a simulation is running.
Orbit Commands: Opens the panel containing the advanced rotation commands (see Section 5.2.2).
Show UCS Icon: Enables or disables the UCS icon (which is displayed at the origin of the coordinate
system) in the rendering window.

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3.4.4 Help Menu

The help menu, shown in Figure 3.4.10, contains four commands.

Figure 3.4.10 – Help Menu

User Manual: Opens Newton’s user manual in Adobe Acrobat Reader. You must have Adobe installed to
view the manual.
New Features: Opens a file that describes recent new features that have been added to Newton. You
must have Adobe installed to view this file as well.
Check for Updates: See Section 2.2
About: Opens a popup window that describes the Newton software and user information.

3.4.5 Library Menu

The library menu contains commands for opening and saving Newton particle library files (*.PLF). Figure
3.4.11 shows the library menu.

Figure 3.4.11 – Library Menu

Open: Opens a saved particle library file.
Save As: Saves the current particle library file to the specified location.
Merge/Export Libraries: Opens a window that allows the user to import, export, or merge library files
together. (See Section 4.6.3)
Open User Library File: In addition to the default Newton library, Newton maintains a custom user
library file. This command opens the user library file.
Save as User Library File: Overwrites the user library file with the current particle library file. Note that
this action cannot be undone. You should maintain backup files to all your library files.

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3.5 User Preferences Window

3.5.1 Rendering Preferences

The Rendering tab of the preferences window contains settings that pertain to Newton’s rendering
window, and is shown below in Figure 3.5.1.

Figure 3.5.1 – Rendering tab of the Preferences window

Enable Origin USC at Startup: Specifies whether a UCS icon will be rendered at the origin of the
rendering window by default when Newton starts.
Origin UCS Size: Specifies the size of the UCS that is rendered at the origin.
Default Orbit Sensitivity: Specifies the default orbit sensitivity for rotating the model.
Interpolate Between Camera Views: When using the preset view buttons, orbiting the model with the
Orbit Commands panel, or recalling saved camera views, Newton will interpolate the camera from the
current view to the selected view. This allows the user to disable the interpolation and Newton will
instead snap instantly to the selected view.
Default to Simple Transparency: Simple Transparency mode will be enabled by default when Newton
starts (see Section 5.3.1).
Color Scale Settings: These controls allow you to customize the color scale that appears in the top right
corner of the rendering window.
Custom < Min Scale Color: By default, any particles or surfaces that have color values below the
minimum scale setting (i.e. if the velocity scale is set from 4.0-8.0 m/s, consider a particle with
velocity 2.5 m/s) will be colored according to this color. If this box is unchecked, then Newton
will simply color these particles with the bottom scale color (i.e. blue).

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Custom > Max Scale Color: This is identical to the previous setting, except it applies to particles
that are higher than the color scale range (i.e. if the velocity scale is set from 4.0-8.0 m/s,
consider a particle with velocity 10.2 m/s)
Show Min/Max Colors In Color Scale: If this box is checked, then Newton will render an
additional triangle on both sides of the color scale that show the colors of particles and surfaces
that are outside the scale range.
Color Triangles < Min Wear: By default, when you switch a layer to Work, the entire layer is
colored blue (as shown in the left figure below). As the wear summary progresses, the triangles
that have a lot of particle impact will be colored green or yellow or red.
However, if you uncheck this checkbox, then triangles that have wear values less than the
minimum scale setting will be colored according to the layer color (as shown in the right figure
below). If the minimum scale setting is exactly 0, then all triangles with wear values less than
0.5% of the max scale value will be ignored instead.

Figure 3.5.2 – Wear Coloring for Surfaces

Default Horz/Default Vert: This specifies whether the color scale in the top right corner should
be vertical or horizontal by default when Newton starts.
Adaptive Degradation: When panning, orbiting, or zooming a model in a playback file, there may be too
many particles in the model for the computer’s graphics card to render at a reasonable frame rate. With
adaptive degradation, Newton may automatically reduce the rendering quality of particles in the model
to increase the frame rate. Different degradation modes can be set for the Pan, Orbit, and Zoom
commands.
ON: Newton will force rendering of particles as lines or points. This is useful for making Newton
more responsive for users who work with Newton through VPN software.
AUTO: Newton will automatically determine whether it is necessary to degrade the rendering
quality of the particles.
OFF: Newton will never degrade rendering quality (not recommended).
Render Delay: This is how long Newton will wait after a Pan, Orbit, or Zoom command before
re-rendering the model at normal quality (0.2 to 3.0 seconds).

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3.5.2 System Preferences

The System tab of the preferences window contains general system settings, and is shown in below in
Figure 3.5.3.

Figure 3.5.3 – System tab of the Preferences window

Enable Tooltips: Specifies whether hovering the mouse over certain form controls will display an
informational tooltip.
Display confirmation dialog when exiting Newton: By default, when you close Newton, a message box
will pop up asking you to confirm whether to close Newton (to prevent you from accidentally closing it
and losing work). You can turn off that feature here.
Hide toolbar buttons when they are disabled: When working in different windows in Newton, or when
different types of files are open, certain buttons on the main toolbar are disabled. You can choose
whether these buttons should be hidden when they are disabled to save space on the toolbar.
Display Pan/Orbit/Zoom buttons: There are four buttons on the toolbar for performing the Pan, Orbit,
Zoom, and Zoom Window commands. These commands are also available in the context menu by right-
clicking in the rendering window (which may be faster, depending on your preference). You can hide
these buttons from the button bar to save space using this option.
Display ‘Preset Views’ as a dropdown list: The preset camera views (Top, Bottom, Left, Right, Isometric,
etc.) are all loaded onto the button bar as separate buttons. With this setting, you can combine all these
buttons into a single dropdown button to save space.
Default Particle Library: The user can specify a default particle library that should be used when
Newton starts or whenever the user clicks New Input File to create a blank input file. This file can be a
local file or a network file on a different computer. If Newton cannot find the specified library file, the
user is notified and the default installation library is opened instead. This feature is only available for
Newton Professional.

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4 Pre-Processing

4.1 General Simulation Variables

Clicking the General Variables button on the Toolbar will open up the General Variables window, shown
below in Figure 4.1.1. This window is where most of the general parameters for the simulation will be
input.

Figure 4.1.1 – General Variables Window

Simulation Time: Choose the length of time for the simulation.
Time Step: You can manually choose the time step that Newton uses when running the simulation.
Note that AC-Tek does NOT recommend using a custom time step unless you are very familiar with DEM
modeling. Choosing an improper time step will quickly cause the simulation to become unstable or can
result in much longer-than-necessary runtime.
Critical Time Ratio: When using a variable time step, this additional scaling factor reduces the size of
the time step to ensure that the simulation will be completely stable. Setting this value above 0.20 may
cause instability in the simulation in the form of the ‘popcorn’ effect.
The figure below shows an example of the popcorn effect. Spherical clusters were dropped into a
cylinder and allowed to come to rest, which should have occurred after one or two seconds. But
because the critical time ratio was set at 0.75 (far above the recommended upper limit of 0.20), the
particles did not reach a steady-state condition. Instead, they continuously bounced off each other
randomly, shooting up into the air in a manner similar to popping popcorn (see Figure 4.1.2). Note that
the simulation below ran for over 17 seconds and never reached a steady-state condition. The particles
should have settled in the cylinder.

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A critical time ratio of 0.17-0.19 should be sufficient in most cases. But if your simulation has a
significant number of stagnant or very slow moving particles, or you are recording wear on any surfaces
(see Section 6.4.5), it will help to lower this value to 0.15-0.16.

Figure 4.1.2 – Simulation instability in the form of the ‘popcorn’ effect

Use Variable Timestep: Setting this to YES allows Newton to periodically recalculate the size of the time
step. The variable time step is calculated based on the maximum current velocity of any particle, the
critical time ratio, and the maximum expected velocity (see below). Using a variable time step results in
a faster runtime than a constant time step, and AC-Tek recommends always setting this to YES.
Multiprocessing Mode: This specifies how many processor threads Newton should use to run the
simulation. If your computer has multiple cores, you should set this to match the number of cores of
your machine to achieve the fastest runtime. Figure 4.1.3 shows a simulation running with eight
threads. Each processor core handles the particles in one thread. After the calculations in the main
threads are complete, seven of the eight cores handle each of the seven groups of particles in the
cleanup thread (the black particles), while the last core handles any other simulation parameters, such
as moving surfaces or calculating triangle or particle force and work.

Figure 4.1.3 – Newton simulation with 8-core multithreading

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Maximum Allowable Particle Overlap: DEM modeling operates by allowing spheres to slightly overlap
each other in the simulation. This region specifies how much sphere overlap will be allowed. AC-Tek
recommends leaving this at 5.0 %.
Maximum Expected Velocity: Newton uses this value when calculating the size of the variable time
step. You should input an estimate of the maximum velocity that you expect the particles to achieve as
they fall through the transfer chute. If your simulation has particles moving at 5 m/s maximum, but you
set this value at 10 m/s, then Newton will calculate time steps that are smaller than necessary and your
simulation will take much longer to run. If you are not sure what the maximum velocity will be, you can
run a short simulation using the default value of 5 m/s with just a handful of particles to observe the
max velocity and then reset the simulation using the observed value. It is sufficient to set this value to
within +/- 1.0 m/s of the true maximum velocity for the simulation.
Kill Particle Velocity: This specifies the maximum velocity any particle can achieve before Newton
removes it from the simulation. Occasionally a particle may become pinched between two moving
surfaces in the simulation. When the particle manages to wiggle free, it may escape with a very high,
unrealistic velocity. Newton will ‘kill’ any particle in the simulation with a velocity above this criterion
before it collides with other particles and disturbs the flow in an unrealistic way.
Sphere Size Ratio: At every time step, the simulation checks to see which particles are in contact with
which other particles. It is obvious that a particle at the top of a transfer chute is not going to be in
contact with a particle at the bottom of the transfer chute. So ideally, the simulation should not even
bother to check if those two particles are in contact. The most efficient way to reduce the number of
checks the simulation must perform is to divide up the simulation domain into cubic cells. A particle
that is inside one of these cells is only compared to other particles that are located inside that cell, or
one of the 26 adjacent cells. The sphere size ratio specifies how large to make the cells. A value of 1.1
means that the X, Y, and Z lengths of the cell size will be set 10% larger than the size of the largest
sphere in the simulation.
If this value is increased, the required memory to run the simulation will decrease, but runtime will
increase. This value should only be increased if you encounter system ‘out of memory’ exceptions. In
most cases, 3 to 4 GB of system RAM is sufficient to run Newton. AC-Tek recommends using a value of
1.10.
Directional Collision Ratio: While a simulation is running, Newton maintains a list of ‘Nearest Neighbor’
particles that are in close proximity to each particle in the simulation. At every time step, each particle
is checked for contact against its nearest neighbors. This setting inversely scales how often these
nearest neighbor lists are updated. So Newton will update these lists twice as often if this value is set to
2.0, compared to a value of 1.0.
Consider Case A: A particle is moving toward a stationary particle with some maximum velocity V. After
one time step, the distance between the particles has decreased by X.
Consider Case B: Two particles are moving directly toward each other, each with the same maximum
velocity V as in Case A. After one time step, the distance between those two particles has decreased by
2*X, twice the distance as in Case A.
Case A represents a situation where the Directional Collision Ratio should be 1.0, because one particle is
stationary and the other is moving with maximum velocity.
Case B represents a situation where the Directional Collision Ratio should be 2.0, because the distance
between the two particles is decreasing twice as fast as in Case A. Therefore the list of nearest
neighbors should be updated twice as often to maintain simulation stability.

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If complete simulation stability is desired, then the value of the directional collision ratio should be set
to 2.0, because this will ensure that any situation similar to Case B will always be stable. But generally,
when modeling conveyor belt transfer chutes, all material flows in approximately the same direction, so
it is very rare that two particles would travel directly toward each other at maximum velocity. Therefore
this value can usually be set in the range 1.25-1.75 and the simulation will remain stable. AC-Tek
recommends using a value between 1.25-1.50 for most cases, and using values of 1.5-2.0 only if there
are locations in the chute geometry where the particles could travel toward each other at maximum
velocity.
Moving Cell Triangle Update: For each triangle in each layer of the chute geometry, Newton maintains
a list of cells that each triangle of each layer occupies. You may choose to run a simulation that uses
moving layers, such as a rotating hood, or a vibrating screen. A layer that has a surface velocity (like a
belt) is NOT considered a moving layer, because the triangles that compose the layer do not physically
move in the simulation, they are simply denoted as having the desired surface velocity.
If your simulation does use moving layers, like translation, rotation, or linear or rotational cyclic motion,
then Newton will periodically update the cells that the moving triangles occupy. This value specifies the
distance, in cell lengths, that any point on the triangle can move before Newton updates the list of cells
it occupies. This value cannot be set above 0.95, or particles may push through surfaces, resulting in a
nonsensical simulation. AC-Tek recommends leaving this at the default value of 0.50.
Preferred Thread Search Direction: If you are running a simulation using multiple processing threads,
then this setting specifies how to divide the particles between the threads. If the Preferred Thread
Search Direction is set to AUTO, then Newton will divide the particles along the axis which will result in
the fewest number of particles in the cleanup thread. Alternatively, you can choose the axis along which
you would like to divide the particles for processing.
Playback File Save Time Interval: This setting specifies how often to save simulation data for the
playback file and CSV file. With the default setting of 0.020 seconds, Newton will save 50 frames of data
for each second of simulation. Lowering this value will result in a higher playback frame rate, but also a
much larger data file.
PNG File Save Time: At the specified interval, Newton will capture a screenshot of the running
simulation. These snapshots provide an easy way to view the history of the simulation without having
to open the uncompressed data file while the simulation is running. The snapshot is taken based on the
current view settings, so be sure to position the geometry properly at the start of the simulation. If this
interval is set to zero or left blank, then Newton will only capture one screenshot at the start of the
simulation.
Save Triangle Force & Work Data: Newton is capable of showing the force and work applied by the
particles to the chute geometry. If this setting is set to YES, then Newton will record this force and
work. Note that Newton will not display force and work information while the simulation is running; the
data is used when making animation files during post-processing.
It is difficult to calculate the real force and work that will be applied to the chute during actual loading,
but Newton can provide a rough estimate of these values. Primarily the force and work data is used to
qualitatively compare one chute design to another to see which will result in higher force and work on
the chute.
Note that when analyzing triangle wear, Newton does this for an entire layer. Therefore to get the most
detailed work information about a wear plate, for example, put the wear plate on its own layer. If this

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information is not required, then this setting should be set to NO, because recording this information
will result in a longer runtime and a larger file size.
Save Particle Force & Work Data: Newton is also capable of showing the force and work on the
particles themselves. If this setting is set to YES, Newton will record the force and work. As with Save
Triangle Force & Work Data, this information will not display while the simulation is running, and is
primarily used for qualitative comparison of one chute design to another.
If this information is not required, then this setting should be set to NO, because recording this
information will result in a longer runtime and a larger file size.
Use Restart File: Newton can periodically save the current simulation information to a Newton restart
file (.RST). In the event of a power failure, this enables you to restart your simulation close to where it
was, rather than starting over from the beginning, saving hours or days of computation time. AC-Tek
recommends always setting this to YES.
Restart Save Time Interval: This is where you specify how often to save a restart file. Note that this
value corresponds to seconds of simulation time, not seconds of computation time. If your simulation
runs very slow, taking hours of computation time to complete one second of simulation time, then you
may want to set this value to 0.5 seconds. Power failures are rare, and using a value of 2.0 seconds is
generally sufficient.
Overwrite Restart File: Newton can either overwrite the same restart file each time, or save a new
restart file at each restart save time interval. It is unnecessary to save multiple restart files, because you
essentially always want to restart the simulation using the most recent restart file.
Hard Drive Letter: This specifies the hard drive in your computer on which Newton will save the
simulation data.
Base Directory: This specifies the root directory on the specified hard drive to which Newton will save
the simulation data. To easily locate all your simulations, it is a good idea to use the same base directory
for all DEM simulations.
Client Name, Job ID, Chute ID, Revision Number, Friction Level: These five inputs specify the
subsequent folders in the Base Directory to which Newton will save the simulation data. There is no
reason that the folder designated as Client Name has to represent the name of the client. The same is
true for each of the other four folders. You need only remember that the folder tree for these folders
starts with the Base Directory, and each subsequent folder will be placed inside the previous folder (so
the Friction Level folder will contain no other folders, only the simulation data)
File Name: This specifies the base filename for each file that the simulation creates.
Comments: These are for your own notes about the simulation. These comments are not reprinted
anywhere, they appear only in the Comments box.
Save Default File Location: Clicking this button will save the current file location information in the user
preferences file as the default information to use.

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4.2 Material Properties

Clicking the Material Properties button on the Toolbar will open up the Material Properties window,
shown in Figure 4.2.1. This window is where the friction, cohesion, and other material properties are
defined.
The slider at the top of the window allows you to quickly control the material properties from free-
flowing to highly-cohesive. After adjusting the slider, you can still manually change any of the values.
When a value in column A is exactly the same as the default value for that slider notch, the number is
colored green. Values different from the default value are black.

Figure 4.2.1 – Material Properties Window

For Newton Professional users, up to three different sets of material properties can be defined (A, B,
and C). For Newton Basic users, only one set of material properties can be used, and only the General
Properties for that set can be manually adjusted. When creating particle sets in the Particle Library
window, the user specifies which material property set should be used for each cluster (See Section
4.6.2). When particles with different material properties are in contact, the average value between the
material sets is used to determine the contact forces. For example, in the figure above, if a cluster with
properties A contacted a cluster with properties C, the resulting forces would be determined using the
following parameters:
Particle-Particle Friction Coefficient: 0.425
Coefficient of Restitution: 0.100
Particle-Particle Cohesion Factor: 0.0255
Particle-Particle Friction Coefficient: This specifies the coefficient of friction for particle-to-particle
contact.

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Particle-Boundary Friction Coefficient: This specifies the coefficient of friction for particle-to-surface
contact.
Coefficient of Restitution: The coefficient of restitution describes the ratio of the velocity of a particle
after it collides with a rigid wall to the velocity of the particle before it collides with the wall. A
coefficient of 1.0 would imply that a particle bouncing off a rigid surface would lose no energy in the
collision, and a coefficient of 0.0 would imply that the particle does not bounce of the wall; it stops,
losing all its kinetic energy in the collision. Because of numerical concerns, the minimum value for this
input is 0.075. AC-Tek recommends using a coefficient of restitution between 0.10 and 0.30.
Rotational Damping: If a spherical particle is rolling along a surface, this value specifies how far it will
roll (in revolutions about its center of gravity) before it comes to rest. This is particularly useful for
forcing spherical particles, which tend to roll for a long time, to stop relatively quickly. However, in AC-
Tek’s opinion, spherical particles are of very little value in a DEM simulation because of their inability to
sustain a rotational moment.
The majority of particles generated in Newton are usually irregular clusters. The effect of rotational
damping on irregular clusters is very minor, and you can usually just leave this factor at its default value.
Because of numerical concerns, the minimum value for this coefficient is 0.10.
Use Ratchet Effect: This specifies whether to use the ratchet effect. The ratchet effect helps simulate
cohesiveness in the material. Normally, when two particles come into contact and overlap, Newton
creates a virtual spring between the two particles, forcing them apart. This force is directly proportional
to how far the particles overlap. With the ratchet effect, Newton will add a second spring between
these particles. This spring acts to pull the particles together, helping them stick to each other. The
magnitude of the ratchet spring force is scaled by the cohesion factor inputs. A factor of 1.0 would
create a cohesive force equal to the force that pushed the particles together. A factor of 0.25 would
create a cohesive force equal to 25% of the force that pushed the particles together.
Particle-Particle Cohesion Factor: The ratchet cohesion factor for inter-particle contact. For contact
between particles with different material properties, the average of the two factors is used. A blank
input represents a cohesion factor of 0. But if a particle with 0 cohesion factor contacts a particle with a
non-zero cohesion factor, the ratchet effect will still be applied, using the average of the two factors (i.e.
half of the non-zero cohesion factor).
Particle-Boundary Cohesion Factor: The ratchet cohesion factor for particle-boundary contact.
Use Liquid Bridge: This setting specifies whether to use liquid bridge effects. A liquid bridge is a
physical bridge of moisture that forms between two particles with high water content. When two
particles come very close, the bridge forms between them. The bridge applies a small force, pulling the
particles toward each other. After the particles move apart and become separated by a specific
distance, the bridge collapses, eliminating the pulling force. Figure 4.2.2 shows a liquid bridge between
two particles of different sizes.

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Figure 4.2.2 – A liquid bridge pulling two particles together

Surface Tensions: This value defines the surface energy of the liquid that forms the liquid bridge
between particles (usually water). The surface energy of water is 0.0725 J/m2. If desired, this value can
be set higher in order to simulate stronger liquid bridge forces.
Water Content: This is the water volume for the liquid bridge calculations. This input does not directly
control the strength of the liquid bridge force, it only determines the wetting angle and the rupture
distance for the liquid bridge effect.
Boundary Surface Tension Multiplier: Multiplies the liquid bridge force for particle-surface contact by
this factor.
Equivalent Sphere Size Ratio: The effects of surface tension are insignificant for particles that are larger
than approximately 5 mm. But Newton cannot model significant quantities of sub-millimeter-sized
particles because it would require billions of particles and would take years to complete a single
simulation. Instead, Newton uses larger particles (15 – 100 mm) and applies properties to these
particles as though they were much smaller.
This value increases the surface tension on a particle by calculating the liquid bridge force on the particle
as though it were much smaller, because surface tension forces are much more significant for smaller
particles. Effectively, the surface tension is scaled by the square of this value while the rupture distance
of the liquid bridge is divided by this value. So if the Equivalent Sphere Size Ratio is set to 8, then the
surface tension force applied to the particle will be multiplied by 64.

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4.3 Importing Geometry

The next step in creating a simulation is to import the chute geometry and set its parameters. Clicking
the Geometry Input button on the toolbar will open the geometry input page. Newton is capable of
importing STEP, IGES, STL, and DXF file types. Each layer in the file can be customized; layers can be
given surface velocities, movement, and individual friction and cohesion effects.
Additionally, Newton can create and insert up to 3 belts, which can be positioned anywhere in the
domain. The belt width, speed, trough angle, and many other properties can be specified for each belt.
Newton is also capable of modeling apron feeders.
The top of the geometry input page contains 4 radio buttons, which contain the information for the
chute geometry, and each of the 3 belts that Newton can create. The first radio button, CAD, is where
the imported chute geometry is controlled. The other radio buttons, Gen 1, Gen 2, and Gen 3, contain
identical input boxes for each belt that Newton can create. The Killboxes button will open up a window
to configure the killboxes for the simulation (see Section 4.3.8). Figure 4.3.1 shows the layout of the
geometry input page.

Figure 4.3.1 – Geometry Input Page

4.3.1 Layer Control

The second section of the Geometry Input page contains the Layer Controls. The Layer Controls panel is
shown below in Figure 4.3.2.

Figure 4.3.2 – Layer Controls Panel

Layer Combo Box: The combo box in the layer control panel allows you to select each imported layer to
modify its properties. Geometry generated by Newton, such as belts, feeder boxes, apron feeders, and
bucket elevators will not be shown in the layer combo box either.

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If you right-click the combo box, three additional options are displayed:
Rename Layer: Renames the current layer.
Delete Layer: Deletes the current layer from the geometry.
Delete All Layers: Deletes all imported layers from the geometry.
Import CAD: This button allows you to import your chute geometry. After clicking this button, Newton
will prompt you to select a CAD file. Then it will bring up the input window shown in Figure 4.3.3. A
preview of the geometry will be shown in the rendering window. Both the existing geometry and the
new CAD file will be displayed. The existing geometry is colored gray, and the new geometry is colored
blue.
Newton supports the following CAD file types:
- STEP/STP (version AP203 and AP214)
- IGES/IGS (version 5.3)
- STL (Binary and ASCII formats)
- DXF (only reads surfaces that were drawn or converted to 3DFaces)

Figure 4.3.3 – Import Geometry Window

Global Import Properties

The top half of the Import CAD window contains the global controls that apply to the entire CAD file.
Before you modify the settings in the lower grid, you should check to ensure all the global settings are
configured properly.
Position Offset XYZ: You can specify an offset for the imported model using these three text boxes.
Specify the offset values using the same units as the source CAD file. For example, if you are importing a
file in inches, and you know that the geometry needs to be shifted upward by 10 inches, you will set the
Scale Factor to 25.4, and you will set the Z Offset to 10.
Scaling Factor: Newton assumes the input file has been dimensioned in millimeters. There is a scaling
factor that allows you to easily convert from a different set of units. For instance, if your chute is drawn

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in inches, enter 25.4 in the Scale Factor text box, and Newton will scale the entire model by 25.4 about
the origin, converting your model to millimeters.
For STEP and IGES file types, Newton may be able to determine the units of the source CAD file and
convert to millimeters, so you might not need to enter a scaling factor.
Positive Vertical Axis: In Newton, the +Z axis is the upward vertical direction (i.e. gravity acts in the -Z
direction). If you are using a CAD program that has a different vertical axis, you can quickly change that
using the combo box. For example, if you are working in SolidWorks, you will probably want to select
the +Y axis.
Recalculate Normal Vectors: If this checkbox is checked, then Newton will recalculate the magnitude
and direction of the normal vector for every triangle. It is imperative that all the normal vectors are
correct when running a DEM simulation.
Almost all STEP and IGES files have proper normal vectors included in the file information, so when you
open a STEP or IGES file, this checkbox is unchecked by default. However, for STL and DXF files, the
normal vectors are often omitted or incorrect, so when opening an STL or DXF file, the checkbox is
checked by default.
Minimum Triangle Area: If your model contains a large number of very small, insignificant triangles,
Newton can ignore these triangles when importing the geometry (Simulations with thousands of
triangles have longer computation times than those with fewer triangles). Enter a value in the
Minimum Triangle Area (in mm2), and Newton will ignore any triangles with area smaller than this. The
minimum value is 0.001 mm2.
STEP/IGES Mesh Resolution: If you are importing a STEP or IGES file, this combo box will allow you to
select the triangulation resolution of curved surfaces like circles, arcs, and cylinders. Note that it is not
always necessary to have a very high resolution. Higher resolutions will triangulate circles and arcs with
better resolution by using more triangles, but will also increase memory usage and simulation run time.
Note: ALWAYS be sure to remove ALL unnecessary circular objects from the CAD file before import,
especially (pulleys, bolts, bolt holes, access door handles, motors, and any other non-essential
geometry).
Low: Use Low quality if your mesh contains no circles or arcs.
Med: Medium quality is sufficient for meshes with a few curved surfaces.
High: High quality can be used if the model contains several important curved surfaces
Fine: Fine quality should be used if the model contains very important continuous curved
surfaces (i.e. a smooth-curved hood or spoon).
Ultra: Ultra quality will ensure that a continuous curved surface is resolved to very fine detail.
Depending on the model, this may create a significant number of triangles and could impact
simulation speed.

Per-Layer Import Properties

Below the global properties is a grid that contains the settings for each specific layer. When you select a
layer in the grid, that layer will be highlighted in magenta in the CAD preview window. If that layer also
shares a layer name with an existing layer, the existing layer will be highlighted in green. Figure 4.3.4
displays this coloring scheme.
Import: Specifies whether this layer will be imported or ignored.

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Layer Name From File: This is the name of the object that was obtained from the CAD file.
Add to Layer: Specifies which layer the triangles from this object will be added to. For each unique
object name in the CAD file, Newton will automatically create a new layer with that name. This will
continue until the maximum import limit has been exceeded (5 layers for Newton Basic, 30 layers for
Newton Professional). Once the limit has been exceeded, all additional objects are placed on the final
layer (this can be changed using the combo box).
Overwrite: If checked, any existing geometry with the same layer name will be deleted and replaced
with the new geometry. If unchecked, then the new geometry will be added to the existing layer.

Figure 4.3.4 – Existing and New Geometry

4.3.2 Layer Surface Velocity Control

Inputs for layer surface velocity are shown in Figure 4.3.1 under the heading Velocity Control. When a
layer is given a surface velocity in Newton, the triangles that compose the layer do not physically move.
Rather, Newton denotes all the triangles in that layer as having the given surface velocity.
Velocity: The steady-state surface velocity of the layer, in meters per second.
Start Time: The time in seconds at which the layer surface velocity will start. Prior to the start time, the
layer surface velocity will be zero.
Acceleration Time: The length of time over which the layer surface velocity will accelerate from zero to
full velocity. The acceleration period starts as soon as Start Time is reached, therefore the belt will reach
full velocity at time Start Time + Acceleration Time.

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Stop Time: The time at which the surface velocity of the layer will stop. If a Deceleration Time has been
input, then the Stop Time represents the time at which the deceleration will begin. Therefore the layer
will come to a complete stop at Stop Time + Deceleration Time.
Deceleration Time: The length of time over which the surface velocity will decelerate from full velocity
to zero. Deceleration of the layer will start as soon as Stop Time has been reached.
Restart Time: The time at which the layer surface velocity will be restarted. If a Restart Acceleration
Time has been input, then the restart time is the time at which the layer acceleration will begin.
Restart Acceleration Time: The length of time over which the layer surface velocity accelerates from
zero to full speed. The restart acceleration period starts as soon as Restart Time is reached, therefore
the belt will reach full velocity at time Restart Time + Restart Acceleration Time.

4.3.3 Layer Deactivation

The control for layer deactivation is shown in Figure 4.3.1 under the heading Layer Deactivation. When
a layer is deactivated, it is completely removed from the simulation. It is no longer shown in the
rendering window, and particles can pass through the space it formerly occupied.
Deactivation Time: The time at which the layer will be deactivated. A layer cannot be re-activated at a
later time.

4.3.4 Layer Movement and Cyclic Motion Control

The controls for layer movement are shown in Figure 4.3.1 under the heading Layer Movement. When a
layer has movement, the triangles that compose the layer physically move in the simulation, and this
movement is shown in the rendering window while the simulation is running. Layers can be given
translational and rotational movement at the same time. Alternatively, layers can be given a linear
cyclic motion, or a rotational cyclic motion.
Begin Movement Time: The time at which layer movement will start.
Moving Time: The length of time over which the layer will move. At the end of the moving time, all
movement for the layer will cease.
Linear Velocity: Enter the X, Y, and Z components of translational movement for the layer. When layer
motion stops, the layer will freeze position for the rest of the simulation. Leave the input boxes blank if
no translation is desired.
Rotation Rate: This is the rate in degrees per second at which the layer will rotate around a specific
point/vector combination. This value can be positive or negative.
When Newton is determining layer rotation, it looks specifically at this input box to determine if rotation
is present. If the Rotation Rate input box is blank or set to zero, Newton will ignore the Rotation Point
and Rotation Axis input boxes. So if you intend to use layer rotation in a future simulation, you can
input the rotation point and rotation axis information, just be sure to leave Rotation Rate blank.
Rotation Point: This specifies the point to which the rotation vector is attached. If any input box is left
blank, it is taken to be zero. If all three input boxes are left blank, the rotation point is assumed to be
the origin.
Rotation Axis: This is the vector about which the layer will be rotated; the base of the vector is attached
to the Rotation Point. Layer rotation follows the right-hand rule. So if the rotation vector is the Z-axis,

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i.e. (0, 0, 1), then when observing the geometry from above, the layer will rotate counter-clockwise if
the rotation rate is positive, and clockwise if the rotation rate is negative.
If you have input a custom CSV layer movement profile (see Section 4.3.9), and this layer includes
rotational motion, but the rotation axis is identical for all rotational movements, then you can input that
vector here and omit the vector in the CSV file.
Cycle Time: If cyclic motion is desired, then the time for one complete cycle is entered here. If using
linear cyclic motion, the cycle time is defined as the time for one complete back-and-forth motion. If
using rotational cyclic motion, the cycle time is defined as the time for one complete circle (or ellipse).
Note: Cyclic motion will override both linear translational motion and rotational motion. If this input
box is not blank or zero, Newton will assume there is cyclic motion and will ignore Linear Velocity and
Rotation Rate.
Note: Rotational cyclic motion will override linear cyclic motion; it is not possible to use both types of
cyclic motion simultaneously.
Cyclic Displacement: This creates linear cyclic motion. Enter the X, Y, and Z components of the cyclic
displacement. The layer will displace from its initial position by the values specified in these input boxes
and then back to its initial position over the cycle time.
If Moving Time is not a multiple of Cycle Time, then on the last cycle, the layer will stop moving mid-
cycle and freeze position for the rest of the simulation.
Cyclic Radius: This creates rotational cyclic motion, and is used primarily for simulating a vibrating
screen. The layer will maintain constant orientation, but the entire layer will orbit about its initial
position. The shape of the orbit can be circular or elliptic.
To create circular cyclic motion in the X-Y plane, specify the radius of orbit in both the X and Y input
boxes. To create elliptic cyclic motion in the X-Y plane with the semi-major axis in the Y direction,
specify the length of the semi-major axis in the Y input box and the length of the semi-minor axis in the
X input box.
To create circular or elliptic motion in the X-Z, or Y-Z planes, follow the same procedure described
above.
Note: If only 1 radius is entered in any of the three input box, the rotational cyclic motion has been
under-defined. In this case, Newton will assume circular orbit in the X-Y plane with the given radius
(even if the radius is entered in the Z input box)
Note: If radii are entered into all three input boxes, the rotational cyclic motion has been over-defined.
In this case, Newton will use only the X and Y input values to create elliptic motion in the X-Y plane. The
Z input value will be ignored.

4.3.5 Layer Friction Settings

The controls for layer friction are shown in Figure 4.3.1 under the heading Frictional Properties.
Surface Friction: This input allows you to control the surface friction coefficient for each individual
layer. It overrides the general particle-to-surface coefficient of friction that was input in the Material
Properties page (See Section 4.2). The X, Y, and Z input boxes override the coefficient of friction for
material properties A, B, and C, respectively.

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Surface Liquid Bridge Multiplier: This input allows you scale the Liquid Bridge effects for each individual
layer. This increases or decreases the effects of the liquid bridge for particle-to-surface contact.

4.3.6 Layer Triangle Control

The Layer Triangle Control panel is located at the bottom of the Geometry Input window, and are
shown below in Figure 4.3.5. This section contains a few commands for controlling the triangles of each
layer.

Figure 4.3.5 – Layer Triangle Control Panel

Set Velocity Vector: This button allows you to easily calculate the velocity vector for any of the layers in
your simulation. It is normally used when you have drawn in a custom belt, rather than creating a belt
through Newton. Input the belt velocity in the text box next to the button. When you click the button,
Newton will analyze the layer and attempt to find the longest length of the layer. It will then calculate
the X, Y, and Z components of the velocity vector. You should always check to make sure that the vector
points in the right direction though, because Newton will usually calculate the correct magnitude, but
occasionally the vector will point in the opposite direction.
If you intend to divide or equalize the triangles in the layer (See below), then you should always set the
velocity vector first, because Newton uses the largest triangle to determine the direction of velocity. If
you equalize and divide the triangles first and then set the velocity vector, Newton will be more likely to
calculate the wrong velocity vector.
After setting the velocity vector, you should always confirm visually that it is correct by enabled Velocity
Vectors in the right-click context menu (see Section 4.3.7).
Equalize Triangles: When recording and analyzing surface wear (See Section 6.5), the results will be
more accurate if the layer is composed of equilateral triangles, rather than very long, irregularly shaped
triangles. When you click the Equalize Triangles button, Newton will attempt to analyze the layer and
break any long, skinny triangles into shorter, approximately equilateral triangles.
If the text box to the right of the button is left at ‘0’, then Newton will break each triangle into as many
smaller triangles as is necessary to create triangles with approximately equal side lengths. Alternatively,
you can enter any integer larger than ‘1’ and Newton will divide each triangle in the specified number of
smaller triangles. Usually, this is unnecessary, and you can simply leave the input box at ‘0’.
Note that this feature depends on the order in which the triangles were drawn in the original CAD file,
so it is not guaranteed to work with all geometries. This feature is intended to work only with simple 3-
roll or 5-roll conveyor belts that were drawn using 3 or 5 long, slender triangles.
Divide Triangles: This button is used primarily when you are recording and analyzing surface wear (See
Section 6.5). Newton calculates the wear on each triangle in a layer, so the more triangles that compose
the layer, the better the wear resolution. Input the smallest sized triangle you want (specify the average
side length of the triangle in millimeters) in the input box next to the button. Each time you click the
button, Newton will divide each triangle into 4 smaller triangles; you may need to click the button three
or four times to shrink all triangles to this smallest size.

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Note that although smaller triangles will give better resolution, it is unnecessary to mesh the layer into
triangles with average side lengths less than 50 mm, because the belt wear resolution will be sufficient
at this size (the default setting for this button is 100 mm). Also keep in mind that as you increase the
number of triangles, computation time for the simulation will increase slightly as well, especially if those
triangles are on moving layers (See above).
Consider the belt shown in Figure 4.3.6, which is composed of three faces (six triangles).

Figure 4.3.6 – A simple belt, consisting of six triangles

If we want to analyze the wear on this belt, first we have to equalize these triangles, so we first click
Equalize Triangles. The result is shown in Figure 4.3.7

Figure 4.3.7 – The belt after its triangles have been equalized
Having equalized the triangles, we can now click the Divide Triangles button three or four times, until
we see that the triangles stop dividing. We’ll leave the smallest size of the triangles at the default value
of 100 mm. The resulting meshed belt is shown in Figure 4.3.8. This belt will record wear much more
accurately than would the unadjusted belt in Figure 4.3.6.

Figure 4.3.8 – The belt is now ready for wear calculations

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After meshing up the belt, right-click in the rendering window and click Triangle Normal Vectors. This
will render the normal vector for each triangle at the center of gravity the triangle. If you are planning
to view the Parallel or Perpendicular triangle forces (see Section 6.5.3), then you must have all the
normal vectors pointing inward and upward, toward the center of gravity of the belt, as shown in Figure
4.3.9.

Figure 4.3.9 – Triangle normal vectors on a belt (side view)

# Triangles: Display the number of triangles that compose the current layer.
Color: Sets the color of the current layer.
Movement Profile: Clicking this button opens the Layer Movement Profile window, where you can
import custom movement profiles for each layer in the form of CSV files. (See Section 4.3.9)

4.3.7 Graphics Rendering Window

The right-hand side of the Geometry Input page contains the Rendering Window. This is where the
chute and belt geometry are rendered, allowing you to pan, zoom, rotate, and change views to verify
your geometry before running a simulation. Figure 4.3.10 shows the right-click context menu for the
rendering window. This menu and the outlined toolbar buttons are how you control the rendering
window. The Newton toolbar buttons were described in Section 3.3. The context menu items are
described below.

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Figure 4.3.10 – Rendering Window and its right-click context menu

Pan: Changes mouse control to panning mode, allowing you to click and drag the model. You can also
hold SHIFT and then click and drag the mouse to pan the model from any mode.
Orbit: Changes mouse control to orbit mode, allowing you to rotate the model. You can also hold CTRL
and then click and drag the mouse to orbit the model from any mode.
Zoom: Changes mouse control to zoom mode, allowing you to zoom in and out by clicking and dragging
the mouse. You can also use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
Zoom Window: Click and drag with your mouse to create a window, and Newton will zoom in on this
section of the geometry.
None: This turns off Pan, Orbit, and Zoom modes, so that clicking and dragging will not move or
reorient the model.
Preset Views: This submenu contains commands identical to those on the menu button bar.
Additionally, this menu contains commands to set an orthogonal or perspective view mode.
Orbit Sensitivity: Opens a submenu that lets you increase or decrease the rotation sensitivity when
rotating the model.
Orbit Commands: Opens the panel containing the advanced rotation commands (see Section 5.2.2).

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Show UCS Icon: This enables or disables rendering of the UCS icon, which is rendered at the origin of
the model.
Surfaces – Solid: Renders the model using solid surfaces.
Surfaces – Wireframe: Renders the model using wireframe outlines.
Surfaces – Transparent: Renders the model using transparent surfaces.
Triangle Normal Vectors: Renders a vector at the center of gravity of each triangle that shows the
normal vector of the triangle.
Geometry: This opens a submenu that contains commands for showing or hiding specific geometry
settings.
Triangle Velocity Vectors: This will render a small vector at the center of gravity of each triangle,
showing the triangle velocity. This is useful for when setting up layer velocities to visually confirm
that the vector is correct.
Triangle Normal Vectors: This will render a small magenta vector at the center of gravity of each
triangle, showing the triangle normal vector.
Killboxes: This will show the Killboxes window. If the killbox window is open (see Section 4.3.8),
then the current selected killbox is shaded in magenta. The other killboxes are shaded in gray.
Material Generation Planes: When working in the Material Generator window, this option will
show or hide the drop location and drop shape of each generation point (see Section 4.5.2).

4.3.8 Killboxes
Newton allows you to draw killboxes into the simulation. When a particle in the simulation enters the
bounds of a killbox, Newton will remove it from the simulation permanently. Killboxes can be used to
keep a simulation looking clean. If there are a few scattered particles that fall off the conveyor belt (so
few that they are not a cause for concern and can be ignored), then you could draw a killbox on both
sides of the belt to remove any particles that fall off.
When viewing the model on the Geometry page before running a simulation, killboxes are rendered into
the model and are shown as gray transparent rectangular prisms. If the Killboxes window is open, the
current killbox that is being edited is shown in magenta to make it easy to tell which killbox is being
edited.
There are two ways to implement killboxes in Newton:
1. Input the killbox in Newton in the Killboxes window, shown in Figure 4.3.11. Specify a minimum
and maximum X, Y, and Z value to create a rectangular prism. You may also enter an activation
time and deactivation time for the killbox. If these are left blank, then the killbox will be active
for the entire simulation.
2. Draw the killbox into the geometry of the CAD file, and it must be on a layer named, KILL1, KILL2,
KILL3, up to KILL10 for each successive killbox. Newton recognizes the layer name and creates a
killbox from the layer. (This is an old method that was used before the Killboxes window was
created. AC-Tek recommends setting up killboxes via the Killboxes window instead).
Killboxes must be rectangular prisms. Newton looks at the minimum and maximum boundary in
the X, Y, and Z directions, so complex shapes cannot be killboxes. You can, however, use

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multiple rectangular boxes, each on a different kill layer, to create a killbox with a complex
shape.
Note that if you import a killbox from the geometry, Newton will overwrite the existing killbox
data for that killbox. For example, importing a layer named ‘KILL8’ will overwrite the data for
Killbox 8 in the Killboxes window.

Figure 4.3.11 – Killboxes window

4.3.9 Layer Movement Profiles

Layer Movement Profile Window

Clicking the Movement Profile button on the Geometry page (See Figure 4.3.1) will open up the Layer
Movement Profile (LMP) window, shown in Figure 4.3.12.

Figure 4.3.12 – Layer Movement Profile window

This window allows you to create a custom movement profile for any layer that you imported via a
geometry file. LMP’s cannot be created for geometry that is created in Newton (i.e. belts, apron feeders,
or bucket elevators).
Add Move: Adds another movement below the current row.
Delete Move: Deletes the current selected movement.
Move Up: Shifts the current movement up one slot.

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Move Down: Shifts the current movement down one slot.

Import Profile: Imports an LMP in the form of a comma-separated-values (CSV) file.
Export Profile: Exports the current LMP to a CSV file.
Clear Profile: Clears the LMP for the current layer.
Clear All Profiles: Clears all LMP’s for all layers.
Use Surface Velocity from Main Geometry Page: Checking this box forces Newton to ignore the surface
velocities that are input in the LMP window and instead use the surface velocity data from the main
Geometry page.
Consider a simulation using a rotating stacker conveyor. While the conveyor is continuously discharging
material, the conveyor rotates 20 degrees and then stops for 10 seconds, and then rotates again, stops
again, etc. Rather than trying to specify the surface velocity for the conveyor at each intermediate step,
you can check this checkbox and then define just the initial surface velocity vector on the Geometry
page. During the simulation, as the layer is moved or rotated by the LMP profile, Newton will
automatically update the surface velocity vectors as well.

Creating a Layer Movement Profile

An Layer Movement Profile can include three different types of data, Surface Velocity, Move Velocity,
and Rotation.
There can also be periods of time where there is no movement or velocity at all. To stop layer
movement, simply enter the time at which layer movement should stop and then leave all the columns
blank. Newton simply views this as another ‘Movement’ for which all data is zero.
This is important, because if you move or rotate a layer, generally you want the movement to stop after
some time (for instance moving a shuttle chute or rotating a hood). For the final movement of the LMP,
you will enter the time at which all movement will cease and leave all the columns blank.
Surface Velocity: Gives the layer a surface velocity, but does not move the layer. This is typically used to
create a custom velocity profile for a belt that has been imported (rather than created in Newton).
Move Velocity: Moves the layer linearly at the specified velocity.
Rotation Rate: Rotates the layer. The point of rotation is the Rotation Point specified on the Geometry
page for this layer. All rotations for a single layer must use the SAME rotation point. If an LMP uses both
linear movements and rotations, then the rotation point is moved linearly as the layer is moved, so the
point of rotation will remain fixed relative to the layer for the entire simulation.
Rotation Vector: When using rotational motion, a vector about which to rotate the layer must be
specified. There are two ways to input the rotation vector:
1. If all rotations will occur about the same rotation vector, you can omit the rotation vector from
the LMP and just enter the vector on the Geometry input page under Rotation Axis for that
layer (see Section 4.3.4). All rotations for the LMP will then use that vector.
2. If the rotations will use different rotation vectors, then specify the rotation vector for each
rotation in the LMP window. You only need to specify the vector for the movements at which
the vector is changed.
For example, assume that Moves 3–5 will use vector (1, 0, 0) and Moves 8–12 will use vector (3,
1, 1). You will enter (1, 0, 0) in the Rotation Vector boxes in Row 3, and enter (3, 1, 1) in the

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Rotation Vector boxes in Row 8. Newton will assume that Movements 3-7 will use vector (1, 0,
0) and Movements 8-12 would use vector (3, 1, 1). In fact, any rotations after Move 12 would
also use vector (3, 1, 1) unless a different vector is specified.
Note: You must specify the rotation vector on or before the first Movement where it is used. In
the example above, you could enter vector (1, 0, 0) into Row 1 or Row 2 and the LMP would be
unchanged.
Rotation Point: Recall from Section 4.3.4 that when specifying layer rotation, you must input a rotation
rate, a rotation vector, and a rotation point to which the rotation vector is attached. This applies to
layer movement profiles as well. For custom layer movement profiles, you must specify the rotation
point under Rotation Point on the Geometry input window. If this is left blank, Newton will assume the
rotation point is (0, 0, 0).
If the LMP translates the layer during the simulation, the rotation point is moved along with the layer, so
the point of rotation will remain fixed relative to the layer for the entire simulation.

Importing a Layer Movement Profile

Rather than entering the values for the movement profile, you can import a LMP via a CSV file. Click the
Import Profile button on the LMP window and select the file to import.
The format of the CSV file should follow the sample profile shown in Figure 4.3.12. Any boxes that have
a value of zero can simply be left blank. However, the following rules must be observed for importing a
CSV file:
- At least the first 4 columns of data must exist (i.e. time and surface velocity).
- The CSV file must contain separators that denote either 4, 7, or 11 columns of data. (i.e. if you were
to open the CSV file with Notepad, you would see either 3, 6, or 10 commas. When creating a CSV
file in excel, an easy way to ensure that there will be 11 columns of data is just to enter zeros into
columns A-K for the first row and then start entering the LMP in the second row.
- Newton will search for data in the first row in the CSV file. However, if Newton detects a non-
numeric character in the first row, Newton will ignore the first row and start at the second row (So
the first row in the file could be the labels for each column).
- The LMP can only contain up to 100 movements. So if the CSV file contains more than 100 rows of
data (101 if the first row is labels), Newton will ignore all data beyond the first 100 rows.

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Example Simulation using a Layer Movement Profile

The layer movement profile shown in Figure 4.3.12 belongs to the simulation shown in Figure 4.3.13.
This shows a bucket that is being rotated and moved to scoop up particles, then moved outside the box
to dump the particles. For this simulation, the center of gravity for the bucket is exactly at the origin of
the coordinate system, so the Rotation Point was specified as (0, 0, 0) on the Geometry input window
for the layer ‘Bucket’.
At 0 seconds, there is no translation and no rotation. The bucket does not move while particles are
being dropped into the box.

Figure 4.3.13 – Bucket simulation using a custom movement profile (Time = 2.99 sec)

Move 1: At 3 seconds, the bucket moves in the Y-direction at 1.4 m/s, with no rotation. The bucket
begins moving along the length of the box to scoop up particles.

Figure 4.3.14 – Move 1: Bucket moves along the box, filling with material (T = 4.99 sec)

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Move 2: At 5 seconds, there is no linear motion, and the bucket begins to rotate about the vector (1, 0,
0) at +20 degrees per second. The bucket rotates upward to help contain the material for when the
bucket is lifted out of the box. Note that the rotation follows the right-hand-rule.
The rotation point was specified as (0, 0, 0) at the start of the simulation. But during Move 2, the bucket
translated 2.8 meters along the Y-axis, so the rotation point was moved to (0, 2.8, 0), such that it
remains at the center of gravity of the bucket.

Figure 4.3.15 – Move 2: Bucket rotates upward at 20 degrees per second. (T = 5.99 sec)

Move 3: At 6 seconds, the bucket moves along the Z-axes at 1 m/s with no rotation. The bucket lifts
upward, out of the box.

Figure 4.3.16 – Move 3: Bucket lifts upward at 1 m/s. (T = 6.99 sec)

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Move 4: At 7 seconds, the bucket moves along the Y-axis at 0.7 m/s with no rotation. The bucket
moves forward, away from the box, in preparation to dump its material.

Figure 4.3.17 – Move 4: Bucket moves forward at 0.7 m/s. (T = 8.99 sec)

Move 5: At 9 seconds, the bucket has no linear movement and rotates at -45 degrees/sec about the
vector (1, 0, 0). The bucket rotates forward, dumping its material outside the box.
Note that during Moves 4 and 5, the bucket moved in the Z-direction by 1 meter, and in the Y-direction
by 1.4 meters. Therefore the rotation point of the bucket layer was moved from its position after Move
2 of (0, 2.8, 0) to its final position of (0, 4.2, 1), so that the bucket still rotates about its own center of
gravity.

Figure 4.3.18 – Move 5: Bucket rotates forward at 45 degrees to dump its material. (Time = 9.99 sec)

Move 6: The bucket has no linear movement and no rotation. Note that this final movement is
important. Because the CSV file does not include a ‘Move End Time’ it assumes that each movement
proceeds until the next movement section. Therefore when you want all motion for the layer to cease,
you have to end with a move section that specifies no movement (unless of course you never want the
layer to stop moving during the simulation).
Also note that the layer can have periods of time where it does not move. Simply insert movement
sections in the CSV file that have zero linear motion and zero rotation and the layer will stop moving at
the specified time, and will start moving at the next movement section that contains movement
instructions.

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4.4 Belt Geometry

Newton is capable of automatically generating many different types of geometry for a simulation. The
Belt Geometry input page is shown in Figure 4.4.1. This input page is only used if you are auto-
generating geometry for your simulation. Many of the input boxes are optional and can be left blank. If
you have drawn your own belts into your model, you can ignore this page and use the layer controls to
give your belt a velocity (See Section 4.3.6).
To generate a geometry, click Gen 1, Gen 2, or Gen 3 at the top of the Geometry page. Select the type
of geometry using the Configuration dropdown box. You can select from a 3-Roll Belt, 5-Roll Belt, Apron
Feeder, Chain Feeder, En Masse Feeder, or Bucket Elevator. Each type of geometry has different input
parameters.

Figure 4.4.1 – Belt Geometry input page with 5-Roll Belt configuration selected

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4.4.1 Creating a 3-Roll or 5-Roll Conveyor Belt

To create a 3-roll or 5-roll belt, select ‘3-Roll Belt’ or ‘5-Roll Belt’ from the Configuration dropdown box
at the top of the Belt Geometry input page. The input pages for the 3-roll and 5-roll belts are nearly
identical. The 5-roll belt page has only two additional inputs: Inner Wing Width and Trough Angle –
Outer Roll. The inputs are described below.

Required Belt Input

Total Width: The total width of the belt, in mm.
Belt Center Width: Specify the width of the center section of the belt here, in mm. If left blank, Newton
sets the center width to [0.35 * Total Width] for a 3-roll belt, or [0.222 * Total Width] for a 5-roll belt.
Inner Wing Width: For a 5-roll belt, specify the width of the inside wing (adjacent to the center section).
The outer wing width is then automatically calculated as [(Total Width – Center Width – 2 * Inner Wing
Width) / 2]. If left blank, Newton will use a default value of [(Total Width – Center Width) / 4] for each of
the wings.
Trough Length: The length of the troughed section of the belt in m. If left blank, Newton will use a
default length of [4.0 * Total Width].
Transition Length: The length of the transition section between the trough and the head pulley, in m. If
left blank, Newton will use a default length of [2.0 * Total Width]. If you want to create a belt without a
transition length, you must set the head pulley diameter to ‘0’ and then Newton will omit the transition
section as well.
Trough Angle: For a 3-roll belt, this is the trough angle of the idler rolls, in degrees. For the 5-roll belt
this cell has the alternative title Trough Angle – Inner Roll, and it applies to the inside idler rolls of the
belt (directly adjacent to the center section).
Trough Angle – Outer Roll: For a 5-roll belt, specify the trough angle of the outer idler rolls.
Incline Angle: The angle of inclination of the belt, in degrees.
Rotation Angle: The rotation angle of the belt about the vertical (Z) axis, in degrees.
Speed: The speed of the belt, in m/s.

Required Head Pulley Input

Diameter: The diameter of the head pulley, in mm. This value should also include the lagging thickness
of the head pulley as well as the distance from the bottom face of the belt to the neutral axis of the belt
(which can usually be estimated as half of the belt width). So the value that could be entered here is [HP
Diameter + 2 * Lagging Thickness + 1 * Belt Thickness].
Face Width: The face width of the head pulley, in mm. If left blank, Newton will assume that head
pulley face width is identical to belt width.
Elevation: The elevation of the head pulley, in mm. If left blank, Newton will assume no head pulley
elevation. This input is important because it directly determines the discharge angle of the material
(along with the Incline Angle). The standard head pulley elevation is 1/3 of the trough height.
X-Position: The X-coordinate of the head pulley position, in m.
Y-Position: The Y-coordinate of the head pulley position, in m.
Z-Position: The Z-coordinate of the head pulley position, in m.

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Belt Speed Profile

Start Time: The time at which the velocity of the belt will start. If left blank, Newton will initialize the
simulation with the belt at full velocity.
Acceleration Time: The length of time over which the belt accelerates from zero to full speed. The belt
begins accelerating as soon as Start Time is reached, so the belt will reach full speed at Start Time +
Acceleration Time.
Stop Time: The time at which the belt is stopped during the simulation. If a Deceleration Time has
been specified, then the belt will start to decelerate at Stop Time.
Deceleration Time: The length of time over which the belt will decelerate from full speed to zero. The
belt begins decelerating as soon as Stop Time is reached, so the belt will come to a complete stop at
Stop Time + Deceleration Time. If a Stop Time has been specified but no Deceleration Time has been
specified, then the belt will stop instantly at Stop Time.
Restart Time: The time at which the belt speed will restart if the belt was stopped at some point during
the simulation.
Restart Acceleration Time: The length of time over which the belt accelerates from zero to full speed
during restart. The belt begins accelerating as soon as Restart Time is reached, so the belt will reach full
speed at Restart Time + Restart Acceleration Time.

Optional Input
Dropbox (0-Yes, 1-No, 0.5-Split): A drop box is the primary means of delivering material to the feed belt
in the simulation. Material is created in layers, and these layers are dropped one at a time into the drop
box. Figure 4.4.2 shows a typical drop box.

Figure 4.4.2 – Standard material drop box

By default, Newton will create a drop box for a 3-roll or 5-roll conveyor belt. If you do not want to use a
drop box, set this value to ‘1’ and Newton won’t create a drop box. If you want to create a split drop
box, enter any value between ‘0’ and ‘1’ and Newton will partition the drop box into two sections. The
length of the backmost section will be set according to that number, and the forward section will occupy
the remainder of the drop box. For example, if we set this value to 0.65, as in Figure 4.4.3, Newton
creates a drop box in which 65% of the length is devoted to the back section, and the other 35% of the
length is devoted to the front section.

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Figure 4.4.3 – Split drop box with fine material in back and coarse lumps in front
Splitting the drop box is usually done when you want to drop two different material sets in the same
drop box. For instance, if you wanted to drop fine material in the back of the drop box, and then cover
that a layer of lumps, as in Figure 4.4.3, you can do this by splitting the drop box into two sections, and
then generating a different material set for each section.
Dropbox Length: The length of the drop box, in m. If left blank, Newton will use a default length of [2.0
* Total Width].
Dropbox Width: The width of the drop box, in m. If left blank, Newton will use a default width of [1.15
* Total Width].
Skirtboard Length: The length of the skirtboard attached to the drop box. If left blank, Newton will use
a default length of [1.0 * Total Width].
Tail Pulley Diameter: The diameter of the tail pulley, in m. If left blank, Newton will not create a tail
pulley.
Sub Pulley Diameter: The diameter of the snub pulley, in mm. If left blank, Newton will not create a
snub pulley. Note that the snub pulley is created only for appearance, and does not actually serve a
purpose in the simulation.
Snub Pulley Y-Position: The axial distance from the head pulley to the snub pulley, in m.
Snub Pulley Z Position: The vertical distance from the head pulley to the snub pulley, in m.
Snub Pulley Extension Length: The length of belt that is created behind the snub pulley, in m.
Head Pulley Cycle Time: The belt can be given cyclic motion if desired. The cyclic motion is linear, and
points in the direction of the belt axis. The head pulley cycle time is the time for one complete cycle (i.e.
one full back-and-forth motion).
Head Pulley Cycle Distance: The displacement along the belt that the head pulley will cycle. If the input
distance is positive, then Newton will move the head pulley forward to start the cycle. If the input
distance is negative, then Newton will move the head pulley backward to start the cycle.

Triangle Control
Coefficient of Friction – Belt: A default coefficient of friction was specified for particle-surface contact
on the Material Properties page. This input overrides that coefficient for this belt.

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Coefficient of Friction – Dropbox: A default coefficient of friction was specified for particle-surface
contact on the Material Properties page. This input overrides that coefficient for this drop box and drop
box skirtboard.
Liquid Bridge Multiplier – Belt: A default Boundary Surface Tension Multiplier for the liquid bridge
effect was specified on the Material Properties page. This input overrides that multiplier for this belt.
Liquid Bridge Multiplier – Dropbox: A default Boundary Surface Tension Multiplier for the liquid bridge
effect was specified on the Material Properties page. This input overrides that multiplier for this drop
box and drop box skirtboard.
Layer Color – Belt: Double-click this cell to set the layer color for the belt.
Layer Color – Dropbox: Double-click this cell to set the layer color for the drop box.
Max Triangle Size: This allows you to specify the maximum triangle size for the belt. Enter the
maximum average side length in millimeters. Newton will first try to square up the belt triangles and
match the size to the triangles in the transition section. Next, Newton will subdivide large triangles into
smaller triangles until the average side length of each triangle is less than the size specified here.
Note that in the process of squaring up the triangles and matching them to the size of the transition, the
size might already be smaller than the value you specify here. For example, for a typical 1200 mm belt
with the default transition length of 2.4 m, the average side length of the triangles in the transition
section is about 105 mm. So even if you enter a larger value in the Max Triangle Size cell (say, 200 mm
or 300 mm), the trough section triangles will automatically be matched to the triangles in the transition
section, so all triangles will be 105 mm or smaller.
It is recommended that the minimum triangle size be no smaller than the smallest particle in the
simulation. Because of the nature of the triangle-particle contact in a DEM simulation, it is pointless to
make the triangles any smaller than this.
Figure 4.4.4 shows a top view of a belt with no maximum triangle size, and a second view of the same
belt with maximum triangle size of 105 mm.

Figure 4.4.4 – Top: Normal belt; Bottom: Belt with 100 mm max triangle size
# Triangles in Belt: This is a reference value that specifies the number of triangles that make up the
trough and transition sections of the belt. The triangles that make up the head pulley, tail pulley, snub
pulley, and drop box are not included. A standard pulley contains 72 triangles, and a standard drop box
contains 24 triangles.

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This input helps when meshing up the belt using the Max Triangle Size input. When the number of
triangles that makes up the belt exceeds 5,000-10,000, the speed of the simulation will start to slow
down. A belt with 10,000 to 15,000 triangles is not unusual, but it is rarely necessary to have a belt with
20,000 triangles or more.

Creating the Conveyor Belt

To generate a belt, you must specify at least the belt width. Using the belt width, Newton will
automatically insert some basic inputs for trough length, transition length, and some other parameters.
To properly model the existing feed belt for a transfer chute, it is highly recommended that at least the
following inputs are specified:
- Belt Width
- Belt Speed
- Trough Length
- Discharge Transition Length
- Trough Angle
- Head Pulley Diameter
- Head Pulley Elevation
- Belt Inclination Angle
These inputs determine how the material is discharged from the head pulley, and the entire trajectory
of the material through the chute will change if these inputs are not specified.
Newton can generate both 3-roll and 5-roll conveyor belts. Select which type of belt to generate using
the Configuration dropdown box at the top of the Belt Geometry input page.

Figure 4.4.5 – 3-roll (left) and 5-roll (right) conveyor belts, front view
After you specify a belt speed, you can turn on the velocity vector for each triangle of the belt by
enabled the Velocity Vectors option in the right-click context menu (see Section 4.3.7).

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Figure 4.4.6 – Transparent conveyor belt with Velocity Vectors enabled

Conveyor Belt Motion

The triangles composing a belt generated in Newton do not physically move. Rather, they are given a
surface velocity that affects any particles in contact with the belt. Therefore in the DEM simulation, you
will not see the triangles of the belt moving.
Using the inputs in the Belt Speed Profile section, you can set a start time, acceleration time, stop time,
deceleration time, restart time, and restart acceleration time.
These inputs are arranged in the order that they are encountered in the simulation:
- Belt Start Time is the time at which the belt starts.
- Belt Acceleration Time is the length of time over which the belt accelerates. So the belt will reach
full speed at time T = Start Time + Acceleration Time.
- Belt Stop Time is the time at which the conveyor belt starts to decelerate.
- Belt Deceleration Time is the length of time over which the belt decelerates. So the belt will reach
full stop at time T = Stop Time + Deceleration Time. If the deceleration time is left blank or set to
zero, then the belt will stop instantly at T = Stop Time.
- Belt Restart Time is the time at which the conveyor belt restarts after being stopped.
- Belt Restart Acceleration Time is the length of time over which the belt accelerates on restart after
being stopped. So the belt will reach full speed at time T = Restart Time + Restart Acceleration
Time.

Head Pulley Cycling

Recall from the previous section that the triangles composing a belt generated in Newton do not
physically move. The exception to this rule is if you create a belt with a cycling head pulley.
On a real conveyor, when the head pulley is cycled, the extra length of belt that is given/taken up is
moved back and forth against the head pulley. This means that the absolute velocity of the conveyor
belt does not change when the head pulley is cycled.
Consider a hypothetical situation in which a conveyor belt has zero velocity and the head pulley is
cycling. There is a motionless pile of material sitting at the bottom of the drop box as shown in the
figure below:

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Figure 4.4.7 – Conveyor Belt Head Pulley Cycling

Newton seems to show that the triangles of the conveyor belt are moving. But in reality, the entire
length of belt behind the head pulley is not moving at all. Therefore the material sitting on the belt
maintains a constant zero velocity. The same principle is true for a conveyor belt with constant velocity.
As the head pulley cycles, the conveyor belt and material still move with constant velocity exactly equal
to the conveyor speed. The movement of the head pulley is ignored.

4.4.2 Creating an Apron Feeder

To create an apron feeder, select ‘Apron Feeder’ from the Configuration dropdown box at the top of the
Belt Geometry input page. The inputs for the apron feeder are described below.

Required Feeder Input

Width: The width of the apron feeder, in mm.
Length: The length of the apron feeder, in m. This is the distance from the center of the head pulley to
the center of the tail pulley.
# of Feeder Plates: The number of plates that make up the apron feeder.
Plate Length: This is a reference value that lists the length of each plate (axial direction, from head
pulley to tail pulley).
Incline Angle: The angle of inclination of the feeder, in degrees.
Rotation Angle: The rotation angle of the feeder about the vertical (Z) axis, in degrees.
Speed: The speed of the feeder, in m/s.

Required Head Pulley Input

The inputs for the head pulley are analogous to those for the Belt Head Pulley inputs in Section 4.4.1.

Feeder Speed Profile

The inputs for the feeder speed profile are analogous to those for the Belt Speed Profile in Section 4.4.1.

Triangle Control
The inputs for the triangle control are analogous to those for the Belt Triangle Control in Section 4.4.1.

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Creating the Apron Feeder

To create an apron feeder, select ‘Apron Feeder’ from the Configuration dropdown box at the top of the
Belt Geometry input page. Newton will generate an apron feeder like the one shown in the figure
below.

Figure 4.4.8 – Apron Feeder created in Newton

Apron Feeder Motion

An apron feeder is modeled differently than a normal conveyor belt in Newton. The triangles that make
up the apron feeder physically move, replicating the motion of a real apron feeder. The fact that these
triangles move means that at each time step in a simulation, Newton must recalculate the position of
each triangle. This only adds a miniscule amount of computation time to your simulation.
However, if you subdivide the triangles of the apron feeder using the Max Triangle Size input, the
increase in computation time will become significant when the number of triangles exceeds
approximately 5,000.
As with a normal conveyor belt (see Section 4.4.1), you can use the Feeder Speed Profile inputs to
specify the start time, acceleration time, stop time, etc. for the apron feeder.

4.4.3 Creating a Bucket Elevator

To create a bucket elevator, select ‘Bucket Elevator’ from the Configuration dropdown box at the top of
the Belt Geometry input page. The inputs for the bucket elevator are described below.

Required Elevator Input

Width: The width of the head pulley, tail pulley, and bucket chain, in mm.
Length: The distance from the center of the head pulley to the center of the tail pulley, in m.
Import Bucket Geometry: Double-click this cell to import a bucket profile for creating a bucket elevator.
The restrictions on the import file are the same as for the normal geometry.
# of Elevator Buckets: The number of buckets to generate for the elevator.
Bucket Spacing: This is a reference value that lists the spacing between subsequent buckets on the
elevator, in mm.
Incline Angle: By default, Newton creates a vertical elevator. You can specify a value here and the
elevator will be inclined further by that amount. For example, entering 10 will create an elevator that is
inclined at 10 degrees past the vertical (i.e. 100 degrees).
Rotation Angle: The rotation angle of the elevator about the vertical (Z) axis, in degrees.
Speed: The speed of the elevator, in m/s.

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Required Head Pulley Input

The inputs for the head pulley are analogous to those for the Belt Head Pulley inputs in Section 4.4.1.

Elevator Speed Profile

The inputs for the speed profile are analogous to those for the Belt Speed Profile in Section 4.4.1.

Triangle Control
The inputs for the triangle control are analogous to those for the Belt Triangle Control in Section 4.4.1.

Creating the Bucket Elevator

To create a bucket elevator, you must do the following:
1. On the Belt Geometry input page, select ‘Bucket Elevator’ from the Configuration box.
2. On the input page, double-click the Import Bucket Geometry cell. An import window similar to
the main geometry import window will open. Import a DXF or STL file that contains the
geometry of the bucket. Don’t include any of the chute or pulley geometry in this file. The origin
of the model in the bucket file must be set as the point where the bucket would attach to the
chain.
3. On the Belt Geometry input page:
a. Specify a Width. This is the width of the chain or belt that wraps around the upper and
lower head pulleys.
b. Specify an elevator Speed.
c. Specify the distance between the upper and lower head pulleys using the Length input.
d. Specify the number of buckets in the system using the # of Elevator Buckets input.
Once this is completed, Newton will create a bucket elevator like the one shown in Figure 4.4.9.

Figure 4.4.9 – A bucket elevator generated in Newton

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You can specify a non-zero position for the bucket elevator by setting the X, Y, and Z positions in the
Required Head Pulley Input section. You can also specify a rotation angle to rotate the bucket elevator
about the vertical axis, or an incline angle to tilt the bucket elevator system.
Note: The bucket that is used must be meshed up into small triangles (50-200 mm, depending on the
overall size of the bucket). Consider Figure 4.4.10, which shows two identical bucket elevators. The left
elevator is using a bucket composed of 10 triangles, while the right elevator is using a bucket composed
of 1,100 triangles. Rendered at the C.G. of each triangle is a velocity vector, showing the magnitude and
direction of the velocity of the triangle.
Each triangle can only have one velocity. As shown by the elevator on the right, the velocity of the
bucket varies linearly based on the distance from the center of rotation. The blue vectors closer to the
head pulley are moving slower than the green/yellow vectors near the outside edge of the bucket. The
elevator on the left will not provide an accurate bucket elevator simulation because it cannot reproduce
this velocity gradient, while the elevator on the right can.
We recommended that your bucket contain between 200-1500 triangles (depending on the size and
shape of the bucket). The more triangles in the bucket, the longer the simulation time, but the more
accurate the velocity gradient across the surface of the bucket. Only small portion of the simulation
time is used to calculate the bucket elevator motion, but we still recommend a maximum of 2,000
triangles to comprise the bucket.

Figure 4.4.10 – An image showing the distribution of velocity vectors in a bucket elevator

Bucket Elevator Motion

Like the apron feeder, the triangles that make up the buckets physically move in the simulation. For the
apron feeder, there are relatively few triangles that move (100-200). But for a very complex bucket,
there might be as many as 2,000 triangles per bucket and more than 10-20 buckets. In this case,
calculating the motion of the triangles will require a larger percentage of the computation time and will
likely increase the computation time for the simulation.
As with a normal conveyor belt (see Section 4.4.1), you can use the Elevator Speed Profile inputs to
specify the start time, acceleration time, stop time, etc. for the bucket elevator.

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4.4.4 Creating a Chain Feeder

To create a chain feeder, select ‘Chain Feeder’ from the Configuration dropdown box at the top of the
Belt Geometry input page. The inputs for the chain feeder are described below.

Required Feeder Input

Width: The width of the chain feeder, in mm.
Open Length 1: The length of the flat section of the chain feeder, in m.
Open Length 2: The length of the inclined section of the chain feeder, in m.
Radius of Curvature: The radius of curvature of the transition from the flat to the inclined section of the
chain feeder, in m. If left blank, Newton will use a default radius of [2.0 * Head Pulley Diameter].
Import Bar Geometry: Double-click this cell to import a bar profile for the bars on the chain feeder. The
restrictions on the import file are the same as for the normal geometry.
# of Feeder Bars: Specify the number of bars on the feeder.
Bar Spacing: This is a reference value that lists the distance between successive bars on the chain
feeder, in mm. It is auto-calculated based on the size of the feeder and the number of bars.
Incline Angle: The incline angle of the inclined section of the feeder (Open Length 2), in degrees.
Rotation Angle: The rotation angle of the entire feeder about the vertical (Z) axis, in degrees.
Speed: The speed of the chain feeder, in m/s.

Creating the Chain Feeder

To create a chain feeder, you must do the following:
1. On the Belt Geometry input page, select ‘Chain Feeder’ from the Configuration box.
2. On the input page, double-click the Import Bar Geometry cell. An import window similar to the
main geometry import window will open. Import a DXF or STL file that contains the geometry of
the bucket. Don’t include any geometry other than the bar itself. The origin of the model in the
bar CAD file must be set as the point where the bar would slide along center of the surface.
3. On the Belt Geometry input page:
a. Specify a feeder width. This is the width of the feeder and feeder bars.
b. Specify a head pulley diameter.
c. Specify a feeder speed.
d. Specify the number of bars on the feeder using the # of Feeder Bars input.
e. If the chain feeder has a flat section, specify the length of the flat section using the Open
Length 1 input.
f. If the chain feeder has an inclined section, specify the length of the inclined section
using the Open Length 2 input, and specify the incline angle using the Incline Angle
input.
g. If the chain feeder has both a flat section and an inclined section, specify a radius of
curvature for that transition using the Radius of Curvature input.

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Once this is completed, Newton will create a bucket elevator like the one shown in Figure 4.4.11.

Figure 4.4.11 – A chain feeder generated in Newton

Note: The bar geometry that is imported must be meshed up into small triangles (50-200mm,
depending on the overall size of the bar). This is to ensure that the velocity gradient across the surface
of the bar will be properly resolved.
See the note about the Bucket Elevators in Section 4.4.3, as well as Figure 4.4.10. The same principle
applies here. The geometry of a bar is usually much smaller and simpler than a bucket, so we
recommend that the bar contain only 40-200 triangles, although this depends on this size and
complexity of the bar that is used.

Chain Feeder Motion

Like the apron feeder, the triangles that make up the bars physically move in the simulation. For an
apron feeder, there are relatively few triangles that move (100-200). But for a very complex bar, there
may be as many as 300 triangles and more than 10-20 bars. In this case, calculating the motion of the
triangles will require a larger percentage of the computation time and will likely increase the
computation time for the simulation.
The main surface of the chain feeder (the blue triangles in Figure 4.4.11) does not move, nor does it
have a surface velocity. Only the bars themselves move with the specified velocity.
As with an apron feeder (see Section 4.4.2), you can use the Feeder Speed Profile inputs to specify the
start time, acceleration time, stop time, etc. for the chain feeder.

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4.4.5 Creating an En Masse Feeder

An En Masse Feeder is very similar to a chain feeder. However the flights move along a chain in the
center of the flight housing, and the material is scraped along the bottom of the housing.
To create an en masse feeder, select ‘En Masse Feeder’ from the Configuration dropdown box at the
top of the Belt Geometry input page. The inputs for the en masse feeder are described below.

Required Feeder Input

Width: The width of the flight housing, in mm. By default, this will also be the width of the pulleys and
chain, unless a different width is specified in the head pulley Face Width input.
Open Length 1: The length of the flat section of the feeder, in m.
Open Length 2: The length of the inclined section of the feeder, in m.
Radius of Curvature: The radius of curvature of the transition from the flat to the inclined section of the
feeder, in m. If left blank, Newton will use a default radius of [1.0 * Housing Height].
Generate Flight Housing: Newton will generate a simple rectangular flight housing around the feeder. If
you want to import your own flight housing shape, enter ‘1’ in this cell and Newton will omit the
housing. Note that even if you import your own housing.
Flight Housing – Height: The height of the flight housing. The default value is [2.0 * Pulley Diameter].
Flight Housing – Feed Length: The length of the open slot at the tail pulley for loading material into the
feeder. The default value is [1.0 * Width].
Flight Housing – Discharge Length: The length of the open slot at the head pulley for discharging
material. This length does not include the open section directly beneath the head pulley. The default
value is [1.0 * Width].
Import Flight Geometry: Double-click this cell to import a flight profile for the flights on the feeder. The
restrictions on the import file are the same as for the normal geometry.
# of Flights: Specify the number of flights on the feeder
Flight Spacing: This is a reference value that lists the distance between successive flights on the en
masse feeder, in mm. It is auto-calculated based on the size of the feeder and the number of flights.
Incline Angle: The incline angle of the inclined section of the feeder (Open Length 2), in degrees.
Rotation Angle: The rotation angle of the entire feeder about the vertical (Z) axis, in degrees.
Speed: The speed of the en masse feeder, in m/s.

Required Head Pulley Input

Pulley Diameter: The diameter of the head and tail pulleys, in mm.
Pulley/Chain Width: The width of the pulleys and feeder chain, in mm. If this is left blank, Newton will
set the default value at [1.0 * Housing Width].
The rest of the Head Pulley inputs are analogous to those for the Belt Head Pulley in Section 4.4.1.

Feeder Speed Profile

The inputs for the feeder speed profile are analogous to those for the Belt Speed Profile in Section 4.4.1.

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Triangle Control
The inputs for the triangle control are analogous to those for the Belt Triangle Control in Section 4.4.1.

Creating the En Masse Feeder

To create an en masse feeder, you must do the following:
1. On the Belt Geometry input page, select ‘En Masse Feeder’ from the Configuration box.
2. On the input page, double-click the Import Flight Geometry cell. An import window similar to
the main geometry import window will open. Import a DXF or STL file that contains the
geometry of the flight. Don’t include any geometry other than the flight itself. The origin of the
model in the CAD file must be set as the point where the bar would connect to the flight chain.
3. On the Belt Geometry input page:
a. Specify a feeder width. This is the width of the feeder housing.
b. Specify a head pulley diameter.
c. Specify a Pulley/Chain Width.
d. Specify a feeder speed.
e. Specify the number of flights on the feeder using the # of Flights input.
f. If the en masse feeder has a flat section, specify the length of the flat section using the
Open Length 1 input.
g. If the en masse feeder has an inclined section, specify the length of the inclined section
using the Open Length 2 input, and specify the incline angle using the Incline Angle
input.
h. If the chain feeder has both a flat section and an inclined section, specify a radius of
curvature for that transition using the Radius of Curvature input.
Once this is completed, Newton will create a bucket elevator like the one shown in Figure 4.4.12. Note
that in this figure, a custom hopper has been imported via an STL file for loading material into the
feeder, and a discharge chute has been imported as well.

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Figure 4.4.12 – An En Masse generated in Newton; a custom feed hopper has been imported
Note: The flight geometry that is imported must be meshed up into small triangles (50-200mm,
depending on the overall size of the flight). This is to ensure that the velocity gradient across the surface
of the bar will be properly resolved.
See the note about the Bucket Elevators in Section 4.4.3, as well as Figure 4.4.10. The same principle
applies here. The geometry of a flight is usually much smaller and simpler than a bucket, so we
recommend that the flight contain only 40-200 triangles, although this depends on this size and
complexity of the flight that is used.

Chain Feeder Motion

Like the apron feeder, the triangles that make up the flights physically move in the simulation. For an
apron feeder, there are relatively few triangles that move (100-200). But for a very complex bar, there
may be as many as 300 triangles and more than 10-20 bars. In this case, calculating the motion of the
triangles will require a larger percentage of the computation time and will likely increase the
computation time for the simulation.
The flight housing for the feeder does not have any motion or surface velocity. The feeder chain has a
surface velocity equal to the feeder speed. The flights themselves move along the chain with the
specified feeder velocity.
As with an apron feeder (see Section 4.4.2), you can use the Feeder Speed Profile inputs to specify the
start time, acceleration time, stop time, etc. for the en masse feeder.

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4.5 Material Generation

4.5.1 Newton Particles

Newton creates clusters of particles using spheres. A Particle is defined as one sphere, and a Cluster is
defined as a group of rigid particles that cannot move relative to each other. It’s possible to create
clusters of any size and shape. Figure 4.5.1 shows a few examples of clusters.

Figure 4.5.1 – Examples of Newton Clusters

Using many different types of clusters, hundreds of material sets of different sizes with unique particles
can be created. Figure 4.5.2 shows snapshots of three different Newton material sets.

Figure 4.5.2 – Three different Newton particle sets

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4.5.2 Particle Generation

When creating a simulation, all the clusters that will flow through the system are generated and stored
in the input file during pre-processing. While the simulation is running, Newton reads the clusters from
the input file and inserts them into the simulation. Figure 4.5.3 shows Newton’s Material Generation
window.

Figure 4.5.3 – Material Generation Window

Generation Point: Material can be generated at up to 5 different locations in one simulation. The
Generation Point radio buttons at the top of the window allow you to navigate between these
generation points. Each point allows you to control the material set, density, tonnage, release time, and
other factors.
Material Group Set: This combo box contains all the different material sets that are stored in the
current Particle Library File (.PLF). If you have other material sets, you can open the PLF file in which
they are stored (see Section 3.3.5). Select the material set you want to create for each generation point.
Bulk Density: Enter the bulk density of the material, in kg/m3.
Generation Method: This combo box allows you to select from four different methods of particle
generation. The following four input boxes are defined by the material generation method. Figure 4.5.4
shows the options that appear in these boxes for each method.

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Figure 4.5.4 – Material Generation options based on generation method

Layer: This method generates clusters in layers, one at a time. If material is dropped in layers,
then the tonnage (in metric t/h) and the generation time must be specified as well.

Figure 4.5.5 – Material generated by Layer

Block: This method generates a large volume of material all at once. If material is generated as a
block, then only the volume must be specified. Figure 4.5.6 shows a generated block.

Figure 4.5.6 – Material generated as a Block

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Clusters: This method generates material by cluster count. If material is generated by cluster
count, then the tonnage must be specified as well, because the material is still dropped in layers,
according to the specified tonnage.
Particles: This method generates material by particle count (Recall that a particle is a single
sphere, and several particles make up one cluster). If material is generated by particle count,
then the tonnage must be specified as well, because the material is still dropped in layers,
according to the specified tonnage.
Generation Start Time: Specifies when the material will be released into the simulation. If the
generation method is Layer, Clusters, or Particles, then this time specifies when the first layer of
particles will be dropped. If the generation method is Block, then this time specifies when the block of
material will be released.
Acceleration Period: If the generation method is set to Layer, Newton can linearly accelerate the
tonnage from zero to full tonnage. This input is the length of time over which the tonnage is
accelerated. The acceleration period begins as soon as Release Time is reached.
Deceleration Period: If the generation method is set to Layer, Newton can linearly decelerate the
tonnage from full tonnage to zero. This input is the length of time over which the tonnage is
decelerated. The deceleration period is timed such that the tonnage reaches zero exactly as the
material generation stops.
Release Velocity: The initial velocity of each particle is specified here. If these boxes are left blank, the
initial velocity of each particle will be zero. The X, Y, and Z input boxes do NOT represent the X, Y, and Z
components of the velocity. Instead:
X = Initial particle velocity in the transverse (across the belt) direction
Y = Initial particle velocity in the axial (along the belt) direction
Z = Initial particle velocity in the vertical (normal to the belt) direction
The velocities are specified in this manner because when the belt is rotated or inclined, these velocities
are rotated and inclined to match, so that the user does not have to manually calculate the X, Y, and Z
components.
Random Min Velocity: Each particle can be given a random initial velocity. The X, Y, and Z input boxes
specify the transverse, axial, and normal components of the minimum random velocity in meters per
second. (See Release Velocity above)
Random Max Velocity: The X, Y, and Z input boxes specify the transverse, axial, and normal
components of the maximum random velocity in meters per second. (See Release Velocity above)
Random Rotation: Each particle can also be given an initial random rate of rotation. The rate of
rotation of each particle will be some random number between 0 degrees per second and the specified
value.
Custom or Preset (Drop Location): This specifies where the material will be generated. If this is set to
Custom, then you must specify the center point where the material will be generated as well as the
Drop Shape (see next). If this is set to Belt 1, Belt 2, or Belt 3, you need only select the Drop Shape.
Drop Shape: This specifies the shape of the material drop. If the drop location is Belt 1, Belt 2, or Belt
3, then the center position and size do not need to be specified. If the drop location is Custom, then you
need to specify the drop center point for the material. The size of the drop must also be input,

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depending on the drop shape. Figure 4.5.7 shows the input boxes for each drop shape, as well as an
example of each drop shape.

Figure 4.5.7 – Drop Shape options

Rectangle: Specify the X and Y sizes of the drop.
Circle (or Annulus): Newton can create a circle or annulus drop. To create a circle, specify the
diameter of the circle in the X box. If an annulus is desired, specify the outer diameter in the X
box and the inner diameter in the Y box.
Ellipse: To create an ellipse, specify the length of the major and minor axes in the X and Y
boxes.
Min Particle Gap: When using material with very high friction and cohesion levels, it is necessary to put
a small gap between clusters during generation. If this gap is omitted, then the clusters will be in
contact when they are generated, which will instantly create a liquid bridge between the clusters. This
value should never be set to less than 1 mm.
Recall that the primary method for generating material is by layer. Newton calculates how often to drop
a layer based on material density, simulation tonnage and layer drop size. The number of clusters in
each layer is determined in part by the minimum particle gap. Figure 4.5.8 shows one layer of a
generated material set with three different minimum particle gaps. Note how the amount of material in
each layer differs significantly based on the minimum particle gap.

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Figure 4.5.8 – Minimum particle gaps

When dropping layers of material in a simulation, it is best if the layers drop very quickly, one after
another. Consider a simulation with very low tonnage, 100 TPH. If material was generated in layers
with a small particle gap (3 mm), then each layer is will have a huge mass of material, so Newton will
drop layers slowly, with a lot of lag time between layers. This is undesirable, because in a very extreme
case, material could drop so sparsely that the feed belt has gaps with no material on it, as shown in
Figure 4.5.9.

Figure 4.5.9 – Using too small a minimum particle gap can result in uneven belt loading
When the Minimum Particle Gap is increased from 3 mm to 75 mm, the material flow is much more
steady and realistic, as shown in Figure 4.5.10.

Figure 4.5.10 – Material generation with good minimum particle gap

Note that this example does not imply that 75 mm is a good choice for minimum particle gap for all
simulations. The gap should be chosen such that the minimum distance between layers is no more than
the thickness of any layer. See Figures 4.5.16 and 4.5.17 for more information.
Bounding Box Gap: Specify the size of the gap between the edge of the material layer and the sides of
the dropbox. If the clusters are generated with a bounding box gap of zero, then the particles will be
contacting the walls of the dropbox when the layer is released. If the cohesion levels are set high, then a

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liquid bridge will immediately form between the edge clusters and the dropbox surface, disturbing these
clusters as they drop. The Bounding Box Gap should always be at least 5 mm if using liquid bridge
cohesion.
Pattern Distribution: Newton usually generates material to be distributed evenly throughout each layer
(like in Figure 4.5.8). Alternatively, Newton can generate material such that the density of clusters in the
layer varies in the X and/or Y direction.
Linear Gap Factor: Specifies the maximum distance between particles at the sparse side of the layer.
Figure 4.5.11 shows each type of pattern distribution.

Figure 4.5.11 – Layer Pattern Distributions

Mirror Layers: Newton employs a very complex algorithm to generate layers of clusters, starting on one
side of the layer and working toward the opposite side. One effect of this algorithm is that the finishing
side of the layer often has small gaps where material does not quite fit. To counter this effect, Newton
will reverse the direction of particle generation for each layer so that these small gaps do not cause the
material to be dropped heavier on one side of the belt than the other, as shown in Figure 4.5.12. To
turn this effect off, set Mirror Layers to NO. (There rarely any reason to turn off this effect).

Figure 4.5.12 – Mirror Layers Effect

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Increment Multiplier: When generating layers, Newton divides the generation area into a very fine grid
and steps through the grid searching for open spots to place clusters. By default, the size of this search
grid is 1/20 the radius of the smallest sphere. This is usually small enough to tightly pack the clusters
and large enough to result in a reasonable generation time. However, when generating particle sets
that contain clusters with large numbers of spheres (> 50), this default search grid size can result in
extremely long generation times. Entering a multiplier in this box will multiply the cell size of the search
grid, thereby creating a search grid with fewer cells. The material will generate faster, but it may not be
packed as tightly as possible.
P-Count/Quick Gen: When Newton generates clusters, it uses a random generator to create clusters
according to the probability distribution in the material set library. By default, Newton will generate
however many layers is required to obtain 10,000 random clusters. After 10,000 clusters have been
generated, Newton copies the layers that have been created thus far and repeats them for all remaining
clusters.
The idea is that after 10,000 clusters, there is sufficient randomness in the clusters and layers that from
a statistical point of view, it doesn’t matter whether the other hundreds of thousands of remaining
clusters are generated randomly (which takes time), or copied from the existing layers (which is
essentially instantaneous).
If the particle size is very small (such that each layer will contain close to 10,000 particles), then it may
be desirable to force Newton to generate more particles to get sufficient randomness before copying
and repeating the layers. Enter the number of particles to generate in the first box to force Newton to
do this.
If quick particle generation is desired, then Quick Gen can be enabled by selecting YES for the second
input box. This will discard Newton’s complex cluster generation algorithm and simply space the
particles based on the space taken up by the largest particle in the particle set. Enabling this option is
almost always unnecessary, because the computation time for a simulation is always orders of
magnitude larger than the particle generation time. Figure 4.5.13 shows the difference between
Newton’s cluster generation algorithm and the simple Quick Gen method.

Figure 4.5.13 – Quick Gen cluster generation

Force – Time/Count/Overlap: These options are rarely used, and AC-Tek does not recommend using
ANY of these options unless the user has a lot of experience working with Newton and fully understands
the implications of using these options. The first input box forces the time spacing between dropping
each layer. By default, Newton calculates the drop time for each layer such that the desired tonnage is
achieved. If this time is forced by entering a time in the first input box, then the resulting layers will NOT
follow the specified tonnage.

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To force Newton to create a certain number of clusters in each layer, enter the desired number of
clusters in the second input box.
By default, Newton checks to see if particles from sequential layers will overlap each other. If Newton
finds any particles that overlap, it removes them from the simulation so they don’t disturb the other
particles. If the density, tonnage, and minimum particle gap are set correctly, Newton should never find
overlapping particles anyway. To allow overlapping particles during material generation, set the third
input box to YES. This is not ever recommended.
Generate Particles: After all options have been selected, click the Generate Particles button. While the
Newton is generating the material, the text on this button will show current generation progress.
Recall that Newton generates 10,000 clusters and then copies those clusters and layers and repeats
them for the remaining material. While Newton is still generating these 10,000 clusters, the text on the
Generate Particles button will display the percentage of these 10,000 clusters that have been created,
as well as how many layers have been generated thus far. As soon as random generation of 10,000
clusters is complete, Newton will begin copying and repeating these layers. The text on the button will
then display number of generated clusters and layers. Figure 4.5.14 shows the Generate Particles
button for each case.

Figure 4.5.14 – Generate Particles button

If the particle generation results in more than 5,000 layers being generated, Newton will cancel the
generation and display the popup box shown in Figure 4.5.15. You should check your input parameters
and regenerate the material.

Figure 4.5.15 – Error shown when more than 5,000 layers are generated
When particle generation is complete, one of two popup windows will display. If all particles were
generated with no problems, the popup box in Figure 4.5.16 will display.

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Figure 4.5.16 – Popup window shown for successful material generation

This popup box lists the total cluster, particle, and layer count for all five material generation points. It
also lists the minimum layer separation as well as the maximum cluster size (both in meters). The
minimum layer separation is the distance that one layer will have dropped after being released by the
time the next layer is created and released. The minimum layer distance should never be less than
0.020 meters, just to ensure that particles from different layers will not overlap.
If there is particle overlap, Newton will display the popup box shown in Figure 4.5.17

Figure 4.5.17 – Popup window shown if there is layer overlap during material generation
This window displays the same information and warns that there is material overlap for one of the
material sets. The material is overlapping because Newton has calculated that in order to achieve the
desired tonnage, the layers must be dropped too close together. There are three ways to remove the
material overlap:
1. Increase the layer size: If material is being generated in a drop box on a belt, increase the length
and width of the drop box so that more material can be generated in each layer. If material is
being generated in a custom location, increase the size of the drop shape.
2. Decrease the particle gap: Decrease the size of the Min Particle Gap so that more particles can
fit into each layer.
3. Reduce the Tonnage: If it’s possible, reduce the tonnage of the simulation so less material will
be generated. Or use multiple drop locations.

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After the material has been successfully generated, information about each material set can be viewed
by clicking the Output tab at the bottom of the particle generation window. This will change the view to
show the output information. Figure 4.5.18 shows the Output window.

Figure 4.5.18 – Particle Generation Output Window

The output window displays the number of clusters, particles, and layers for each of the five material
generation points. It also displays the maximum height of any layer (usually the same as the maximum
cluster size), and the displacement between layers.
Additionally, this window displays the birth time, number of clusters, and number of particles for the
current viewed layer. Two buttons at the bottom, Show Next Layer, and Show Previous Layer allow you
to cycle through and view each layer of material. The birth time, number of clusters, and number of
particles will be updated as you cycle through the layers.

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Material Generation Planes

For each Generation Point that uses a custom generation location (i.e. not Belt 1, Belt 2, or Belt 3),
Newton will render a shaded plane showing the exact location where the material will be generated, as
shown in Figure 4.5.19. This can help you quickly size and position your drop zone.
You can hide these generation planes using the Geometry sub-menu in the right-click context menu (see
Section 4.3.7).

Figure 4.5.19 – Three cluster generation planes. The blue shaded plane is the current Generation Point

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4.5.3 Generating Particle Chains

Newton is capable of generating chains of particles, like the ones shown in the figure below.

Figure 4.5.20 – Particle Chains Generated in Newton

Creating a Chain Link Particle Set

To create a particle chain, you must first have a Chain Link particle set that contains the chain link
clusters. The default Newton library contains a particle set called ‘Chain Link’ which has two vertical
chain link clusters.
If you create your own chain link particle set, you will need to check the Chain Set check box on the
Group List tab of the Size Distribution window. This notifies Newton that the particle set should be
generated as a chain rather than a normal particle set. You should also set the Solids Ratio to 1.0 in the
left pane of the Size Distribution window. This way, when you input a density in the Bulk Density input
box of the Material Generator window, you can simply enter the true density of the chain material.
You are free to create your own chain links using the Cluster Creator window. Just remember that
Newton assumes there will be a hole through the center of the chain link that is used to hook the links
together.
In the Size Distribution window, whichever chain link cluster is first (ID # 1) will be generated at the top
of the chain.

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Figure 4.5.21 – You can customize your chain links in the Cluster Creator window
A chain link particle set must contain two chain links. Generally, they are identical clusters that are
oriented perpendicular to each other. However, if you wanted, you could have two different links, or
you could orient them at 45 or 60 degrees to each other, rather than 90 degrees (for example).

Generating the Particle Chain

After you have created your chain link particle set, you will generate the chain in the Material Generator
window. The particle chains will occupy one of the five material Generation Points.
To create the chain, you need to specify the following inputs:
- Bulk Density: If your solids ratio is set to 1.0 for the chain link particle set, you can enter the true
density of the material here.
- Generation Method: Set this to Clusters.
- # Links per Chain: The number of chain links that make up each chain.
- Total # Links: The total number of chain links to generate. For example, if you want to generate 7
chains with 15 links each, you would set this input to 105.
- Link Spacing: The spacing between individual links on a single chain. You cannot generate the
chain fully-extended. There must be some small separation gap between the chain links, as shown
in Figure 4.5.23.
- Chain Spacing: The distance between chains.
- Chain Direction (0-3): The orientation of the chain links. Input a value of 0, 1, 2, or 3:
0. Vertically-hanging chains which are stacked in the X-direction.
1. Vertically-hanging chains which are stacked in the Y-direction.

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2. Horizontally-hanging chains which are stacked in the X-direction.

3. Horizontally-hanging chains which are stacked in the Y-direction.
When generating the chains, you may notice that the links are not oriented properly, like in the figure
below.

Figure 4.5.22 – Improperly-oriented chain links

For the case shown above, the chain is generated horizontally, but these links are oriented in the vertical
direction. The links need to be rotated by 90 degrees about the X-axis (red axis). To do this:
1. Go to the Cluster Creator window.
2. For both of the chain link clusters:
 Click the purple Transform button.
 Enter ‘90’ in the text box in the Rotate panel.
 Click the X button in the Rotate panel. The cluster is rotated by 90 degrees about
the X-axis. Then all particle sets that use this cluster are automatically updated
3. Go back to the Material Generator window and regenerate the material. The chain links
are now linked properly, as shown in Figure 4.5.23.

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Figure 4.5.23 – Properly-oriented chain links

Note that the rotation specified in Step 2 applies to this specific case. Looking at the origin UCS, you can
determine about which axis the chain links need to be oriented.
The last thing to note is that the top link of the chain is not fixed in space, the entire chain is free to
move. Therefore the chain must be attached to something. You can generate the chains so that the top
link is hanging from a bar, or you can insert a series of hooks into your geometry from which to hang the
chains.

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4.6 Particle Set Library

Click the Particle Library button on the main button bar to open the particle library. Newton has several
default particle sets that can be used to run simulations. Figure 4.6.1 shows a few of these particle sets,
using the same size scale to represent each set.

Figure 4.6.1 – Six of the default Newton particle sets, shown at the same scale
Recall that the base unit of material in Newton is a Sphere, and that spheres are grouped together to
form Clusters. Material sets that use relatively large spheres (such as the Spheres Only 200 mm set in
Figure 4.6.1) can run as much as 100 times faster than particle sets using very small particles (such as the
20-60 mm set in Figure 4.6.1). There are two reasons for this. When using very large particles, Newton
can create far fewer particles to represent the same tonnage of material. Additionally, the size of the
time step that Newton calculates depends greatly on the size of the particle, and larger particles will
result in larger time steps, and therefore decreased runtime.
Of course, the smaller the particles in the material set, the more realistic the simulation becomes. You
must balance the desired particle size against the realistic time constraints of the simulation. For
instance, a simulation that models material flow at 1000 TPH using spheres of diameter 1 mm would
require several years of run time, but the same simulation using spheres of diameter 50 mm would run
in a few hours.
By applying effects like Liquid Bridge and Ratchet (see Section 4.2), large particles can be given the same
global flow properties as very fine material, allowing you to create a realistic simulation that will run in a
few days and give reliable results.

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4.6.1 Size Distribution Curves

Figure 4.6.2 shows the Size Distribution Curves window. This window provides important information
about each particle set and allows you to quickly generate new particle sets by inputting just a few
parameters. The left side of the window contains commands for modifying the current particle set. The
lower left corner is the rendering area, showing the particle set. You can zoom in and out, pan, and orbit
the particle set. The right side of the window contains the Rosin-Rammler curve and the cluster
distribution bar graph.

Figure 4.6.2 – Size Distribution Curves window

Particle Set Selection Box: The combo box at the top left of the window allows you to select the particle
set you want to view or modify. Right-clicking inside this box brings up a context menu with additional
options.
Copy Set: Creates a new particle set identical to the current particle set.
Rename Set: Renames the currently particle set.
Move to Top: Moves the current particle set to the top of the list.
Move Up: Moves the current particle set up by one position in the list.
Move Down: Moves the current particle set down by one position in the list.
Move to End: Moves the current particle set to the end of the list.
New Set: Prompts you for a name and creates a new blank particle set.
Delete Set: Deletes the current particle set.

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Regenerate: After modifying the input parameters for the grid described below, click this button and
Newton will overwrite the current particle set with a new particle set using the given parameters. The
Rosin-Rammler curve and the distribution bar graphs will be updated as well. Note that clicking this
button will redefine the current particle set and this action cannot be undone; if you accidentally delete
a particle set, you have to re-import your particle library file.
Number of Groups: This specifies how many different types of clusters you want for the particle set.
Maximum Size: The maximum cluster size for the particle set. Note that this is the maximum size of an
entire cluster, not a single sphere in that cluster.
Minimum Size: The minimum cluster size for the particle set.
Average Size: The average size of a cluster for the particle set.
Uniformity: The Rosin-Rammler curve is follows a Weibull statistical distribution. The uniformity is the
shape parameter k of this distribution. This parameter is used to determine the percent of each cluster
type that will appear in the particle set.
Size Distribution Factor: This specifies how to determine the size of each cluster type. Values less than
1 will create a particle set where most of the cluster types are larger than the average cluster size. A
value of 1.0 will create a particle set with cluster sizes that take normally-spaced values between the
Minimum and Maximum Size. Values larger than 1.0 will create a particle set where most of the cluster
types are smaller than the average cluster size. Typical values for this take the range of 0.5-4.0.
Size Ratio: This specifies the maximum ratio of sphere sizes among spheres that make up the clusters.
Note that this does not refer to the ratio of cluster sizes, but the spheres that make the clusters.
The Size Ratio should be set as close to 1.0 as possible (it cannot be set lower than 1.0). When a
simulation has spheres that are vastly different sizes, the number of nearest neighbor particles for each
particle increases; this significantly increases the runtime for the simulation. It is not recommended that
you use a size ratio any larger than 2.0, or else your simulation will have a drastically longer runtime.
Values in the range of 1.0-1.5 are typical.
Solids Ratio: This is the ratio of solid material to total volume occupied by a mass of particles. When
10,000 particles are dumped into a cylinder, there are gaps between the particles, and the total volume
occupied by the particles is larger than the sum of the volumes of each individual particle because of the
spaces between particles.
The Solids Ratio MUST be calculated carefully to ensure that Newton creates proper material tonnages.
For instance, consider a situation where this ratio should be 0.50 for a material set, but it is set at 0.75
instead. When Newton generates 1,000 TPH of material for a simulation, it will actually generate a
higher volumetric flowrate of material at a lower bulk density because the solid/void ratio incorrectly
indicates that there is very little space between particles (50% less space, to be exact, so the flowrate
would appear 50% higher). Proper calculation of the Solids Ratio is described in Section 6.2.
Plot Spacing: This value defines how Newton should display the particle set in the particle set rendering
area in the lower-left corner of Figure 4.6.2). Setting this to a larger value (such as 20) will render the
particles closer together, which is useful when analyzing very small particle sets. Typical values for this
range from 5-20. Note that this input does not affect the material set in any way, it is simply for
rendering the particles in this window while you are viewing and modifying the particle sets.
Rosin-Rammler Curve: This is a cumulative density function statistical curve which shows the
distribution of cluster sizes in the particle set. The red line represents the calculated curve based on the

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input parameters, and each star on the curve represents a particle set. The abscissa of the graph is the
cluster size in millimeters, and the ordinate of the graph represents the percentage of total clusters in
the particle set.
The Rosin-Rammler curve is a form of a statistical distribution, the Weibull distribution. The curve
describes particle size distributions. The stars on the graph should fairly closely follow the Rosin-
Rammler curve.
Distribution Bar Graph: This bar graph displays information about the particle set. It shows the size of
each cluster along the abscissa. Three different bars can be displayed for each cluster, they can be
selected using the combo box at the top left of the bar graph. The bars show the percentage by weight
of each cluster, the percentage of total clusters for each cluster type, and the percentage of total
particles for each cluster type. This graph is useful for checking if any cluster types occupy too much or
too little of the total weight or total count of the particles.

4.6.2 Group List

After generating a basic particle set using the input parameters and the size distribution curves, you can
fine-tune the particle set by modifying the parameters for each cluster type in the Group List. Figure
4.6.3 shows the group list window.

Figure 4.6.3 – Particle Set Group List

Information Labels
In the top right of the Size Distribution window, there are four labels that give data about the entire
particle set.

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Minimum Timestep: Gives the approximate minimum time step required for a simulation using this
particle set. This also takes into account the Maximum Expected Velocity and Maximum Allowable
Particle Overlap from the General Variables window.
Particles per 10m3: The approximate number of spheres that would be generated if 10 m3 of material
was generated using this particle set.
Sphere Size Ratio: The ratio of the radius of the largest sphere to the radius of the smallest sphere.
Ideally, this ratio should be as close to 1.0 as possible. Values in the range of 1.0-1.5 are typical. Values
above 2.0 will cause the simulation to run much slower.
Simulation Time Index: This dimensionless parameter is a composite of the three parameters listed
above. This gives the approximate relative simulation time for a simulation using this particle set.
Lower values are better. A particle set with a Simulation Time Index of 2,000 will take approximately
twice as long to compute as a simulation with an index of 1,000. Computation time is affected by
hundreds of other factors as well, so this index is only an approximation.

Cluster Grid
The grid in the center of the window lists all the cluster types for the particle set. The columns for the
grid are described below.
ID #: This is the ranking number of the cluster type in the particle set list. It has no significance other
than to help differentiate each cluster type. This can be changed by re-ordering the cluster types using
the Move Up and Move Down buttons at the top of the window.
Group Type: This is where you specify the cluster type. The input is a dropdown box from which you
can select any cluster from the particle and cluster library. When you click the Regenerate button,
Newton automatically generates cluster types, ignoring the types in your cluster library.
Cluster Size: This is the size of the cluster, measured as the longest line that can be drawn through the
particle in any direction. This parameter can be directly modified by entering a new value in the input
box.
Material Type: This species which Material Properties Set (A, B, or C) will be used for this cluster. If you
are using sets B or C, make sure you have defined at least the coefficients of friction, coefficient of
restitution, and rotational damping for those sets.
% By Weight: The percentage of the cluster type by mass of the total generated material for the particle
set.
Clusters per 10,000: Specifies how many clusters in a group of 10,000 should be of this type.
Sphere Radius: The radius of the first sphere in the cluster.
Spheres in Cluster: The number of spheres that make up the cluster type.
Time Step Index: The ratio of the approximate required time step for this cluster to the minimum time
step for the entire particle set (shown in the Minimum Timestep label at the top of the window). To
obtain the approximate required time step for this specific cluster, multiply the Time Step Index for this
cluster by the Minimum Timestep for the set.

Buttons
The buttons along the top of the window allow you to add and remove cluster types, and reposition and
sort them in the list. The function of each button is described below:

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Insert Cluster: Adds a grid row for a new cluster at the current position.
Delete Cluster: Deletes the current selected cluster from the particle set.
Move Up: Moves the current selected cluster row up by one position.
Move Down: Moves the current selected cluster row down by one position.
= Clusters: Sets the cluster count per 10m3 for each cluster to the same number.
= Spheres: Sets the sphere count per 10m3 for each cluster to the same number.
Sort: Sorts the rows according to Cluster Size, with the largest cluster at the top of the list and the
smallest cluster at the bottom of the list.
Scale: Scales the cluster size of all cluster types by the scale value in the adjacent input box.
Refresh Set: This refreshes each cluster to ensure that all recent changes in the Cluster Creator and Size
Distribution windows has been accounted for.
Freeze Cluster Count: If this checkbox is checked, then when the Cluster Count per 10,000 or % by
Weight is changed for a cluster, that value will be frozen, preventing it from being redistributed when
other cluster counts are changed. Once this checkbox is unchecked, all cluster counts will be unfrozen.
Chain Set: Newton can create particle chains using particle sets that are composed of cluster links.
Checking this check box informs Newton that the current particle set is a Chain Link particle set.

4.6.3 Merge/Export Libraries

Clicking Merge/Export Libraries under the Library menu on the main menu bar will open the window
shown below in Figure 4.6.4

Figure 4.6.4 – Merge/Export Libraries window

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The term Internal refers to the particle library file that is embedded into the current input file. The term
External refers to some external library file that can be opened for importing or exporting.
This window allows you to do three things:
1. Export clusters and particle sets from the current library to a blank library file.
2. Export clusters and particle sets from the current library to an existing library file.
3. Import clusters and particle sets from an external library file to the internal library.
The window contains four colored panels. The blue panels list the clusters contained in the internal
(left) and external (right) library files. The yellow panels list the particle sets contained in the internal
(left) and external (right) library files.
When a particle set is moved from one library to another, Newton automatically checks which clusters
belong to that particle set and ensures that those clusters are moved as well.
Exporting to a Blank Library: Highlight the desired clusters/particle sets and click the right-arrow button
to send them to the external library. Once you have moved all necessary clusters/particle sets, click the
Save Library button and specify where to save the library.
If you have already opened an external library file, then you cannot export to a blank library file. You
have to close the Merge/Export Library Files window and re-open it.
Exporting to an Existing Library: Click the Open Library button to open the desired external library file.
Newton will populate the right-hand panes with clusters and particle sets from the external library.
Highlight the desired clusters/particle sets and click the right-arrow button to send them to the external
library. Once you have added all necessary clusters/particle sets, click the Save Library button and
specify where to save the library. Note that you don’t have to save over the original external library file,
you can save it as a different library.
Import from an External Library: Click the Open Library button to open the desired external library file.
Newton will populate the right-hand panes with clusters and particle sets from the external library.
Highlight the desired clusters/particle set and click the left-arrow button to bring them into the internal
library. Once you have imported all necessary clusters/particle sets, just close the Merge/Export Library
Files window.
Note that when you modify the internal library file by importing clusters and particle sets, the internal
library is automatically updated; there is no need to ‘save’ the internal library. This also means that you
cannot undo an import. You have to go to the library and manually delete a particle set or cluster if you
import it accidentally.
Check for Possible Identical Clusters: If this checkbox is checked, then if Newton tries to import a
cluster with the same name as an existing cluster, Newton will compare the parameters of both clusters
to see if they match within 0.001% of each other. If so, then Newton will ask if you want to assume that
the clusters are identical. If you select Yes, then Newton will cancel importing that cluster and make
sure that all library files point to the existing cluster instead. If you select No, then Newton will prompt
you for a new cluster name. After giving a new cluster name, Newton will make sure that all particle
sets containing that cluster are updated with the new name.
Ignore Clusters that have Already Been Copied: If this checkbox is checked, then Newton will maintain
a list of which clusters have already been imported/exported and will not try to import/export them
again. Note that if the Merge/Export Library Files window is closed and then re-opened, this list is
reset.

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4.7 Cluster Creator

4.7.1 Main Window

Each cluster type that is used in each particle set (other than the Generated Groups) is contained in
Newton’s particle library. You can create new cluster types in the library. Figure 4.7.1 shows the Cluster
Creator window.

Figure 4.7.1 – Cluster Creator window

Cluster Combo Box

The combo box at the top left of the window is where you select the cluster to edit. Right-clicking on
the combo box will bring up the context menu shown in Figure 4.7.1. The context menu contains the
following commands.
Copy Cluster: Creates a new cluster that is identical to the current cluster.
Move Up: Moves the current cluster up by one position in the cluster list.
Move Down: Moves the current cluster down by one position in the list.
Move to Position: Moves the current cluster to the specified position in the cluster list.
Export to CSV: Exports the current cluster to a CSV file. The CSV file contains the sphere number,
radius, and X, Y, and Z position for each sphere in the cluster.
Export to DXF: Exports the current cluster to a DXF CAD file.

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Import CSV: Imports a CSV file and saves it as a cluster. The CSV file must contain the sphere number,
radius, and X, Y, and Z positions for each sphere in the cluster. In order to get the formatting of the CSV
file correct, you should export one of the other clusters to a CSV file and use it as a template for creating
your own CSV cluster file.
Import DXF: Imports a DXF file and saves it as a cluster. The DXF file must contain only spheres. As with
a CSV file, it is helpful to first export a cluster to a DXF file and use that file as a template.
Below the cluster combo box, there are three buttons that allow you to create, rename, and delete
clusters.
Number of Spheres: In the input box adjacent to this label, enter the number of spheres that will
compose the cluster.
The grid below Number of Particles contains the radius and X, Y, and Z information for each sphere.
Modify these values to create your cluster.
The box below the grid contains information about the cluster, including volume, center of gravity, and
moment of inertia about each axis.
Lock Rotation: Check this checkbox if you want Newton to prevent this cluster from rotating in the
simulation. This option is not usually needed. If you are using a material set that includes multiple
cluster types that are composed of a single sphere, then it might be helpful to lock the rotation on one
of those spherical cluster types so that the material does not roll around.

Cluster Window Buttons

New: Clicking this button brings up the New Cluster window, allowing you to create a blank cluster with
the specified name and number or spheres, or auto-generate a cluster using the Auto Cluster Creator
(see below).
Rename: Renames the current cluster.
Delete: Deletes the current cluster from the cluster library.
Transform: Opens the Transform Cluster window. (see Section 4.7.2).

Auto Cluster Creator

In the New Cluster window, there is a button called Auto Cluster Creator. This button opens a separate
window (shown in Figure 4.7.2) that allows you to quickly create a cluster without having to manually
set parameters for each sphere. Enter the number of spheres in the X, Y, and Z directions, the spacing
between the spheres (as a percentage of the sphere diameter), and the tilt angle of the cluster (which
creates angled clusters instead of cubic).

Figure 4.7.2 – Auto Cluster Creator window

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Cluster Meshing
Checking the Mesh checkbox allows you to preview the meshed version of the cluster (see Section
5.3.3). We have a tutorial on YouTube at http://youtu.be/qv7RXFSSG_w which discusses how to set up
and use the meshes.
Meshing is a rendering effect that helps make the clusters look less like spheres and more like irregular
particles. The effect does not alter the calculations in any way, it is only a visual effect. Figure 4.7.3
shows a cluster with and without the mesh effect applied.

Figure 4.7.3 – A cluster without (left) and with (right) the mesh effect

Figure 4.7.4 – A cluster prepped for meshing; ignored spheres are shown in gray
Mesh: Check this box to preview the cluster as a mesh. The mesh is generating using all spheres except
those which are set to Ignore. By ignoring certain spheres, you can control the size and shape of the
mesh.
Show Ign: If this checkbox is checked, then Newton will color the ‘ignored’ spheres as gray in the
rendering window. This only applies to viewing the cluster in the Cluster Creator window.

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Include Ign: If this checkbox is checked, then when generating the cluster mesh, Newton will include
the ‘ignored’ spheres. This only applies to previewing the cluster in the Cluster Creator. When
generating meshes during a simulation or in a playback file, Newton won’t include the ignored spheres.
This is useful for helping you quickly swap between looking at the mesh with and without the ignored
spheres.
Factor: The mesh factor determines how tightly the mesh will follow the curvature of the spheres.
Higher values will create a tighter mesh and lower values will create a larger, more blob-like mesh.
Quality: The mesh quality determines the resolution of the mesh. Higher resolutions will look
smoother, but will require more memory and will take longer to render.
Note: For all the clusters in the default particle library (including the new clusters), we have already
optimized the Mesh Factor and Mesh Quality in the cluster creator. Feel free to change those values
how you see fit, but the current settings will provide a good quality mesh that follows the contour of
each cluster very well.

4.7.2 Transform Cluster Window

Clicking the purple Transform button on the main window will open the Transform Cluster window,
shown below in Figure 4.7.5. This window contains controls for manipulating clusters.

Figure 4.7.5 – Transform Cluster window

Zero Center of Gravity: Removes any center of gravity offset, shifting the CG back to (0, 0, 0).
Translate: Translates the entire cluster. Enter the translation distance in mm in the adjacent text box
and click the X, Y, or Z buttons to move the cluster.
Rotate: Rotates the entire cluster about the specified axis at the origin of the cluster (not the CG of the
cluster, which is why it is helpful to zero the CG before rotating or scaling the cluster).
Scale: Scales the cluster. Use the checkboxes to specify whether the scaling should be applied to the X,
Y, and/or Z-coordinates of the spheres. You can also choose whether to scale the radii as well.

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5 Running a Simulation

5.1 File Queue

Newton Professional has a file queuing feature which can maintain a list of up to 20 files to run in
sequence. To open the file queuing window, open the File dropdown menu and click Open File Queue.
The window shown in Figure 5.1.1 will open.

Figure 5.1.1 – File Queue

Newton will run each file in the order it appears in the queue. To modify a file, click on the status or file
path and the file will be highlighted. Then you are free to modify its position in the queue or remove it.
You can only modify the position of files in the queue whose status is Queued. Once a file is running,
complete, or stopped due to an error, you can no longer modify its position in the queue. You must
remove the file and re-add it to the queue if you want to run it again. You can clear the entire queue
using the Clear Queue button, and Newton will prompt to you make sure you didn’t click the button
accidentally.
To the left of the file path is the status of the file. The following is a list of all statuses that might appear
in the file queue:
- Queued: The file has been added to the queue and is awaiting simulation.
- Running: The file is currently being simulated. A running file cannot be removed from the file
queue.
- Complete: The simulation for the file has already completed.
- Stopped at 12.32 seconds: If you stop a file early using the Skip to Next Simulation button, Newton
will display the time at which you stopped the simulation.
- File Load Error: The file is corrupt and cannot be opened. The file was not simulated.
- License Error: The USB key is missing or another Newton simulation is currently using it. The file
was not simulated.
- No particles: The input file contained no generated clusters, so the file was not simulated.
- No Triangles: The input file contained no triangles, so the file was not simulated.

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- File Version Error: If the Newton file is from a newer version of Newton, it cannot be opened.
Check that you have the most current version of Newton by navigating to the Help menu and
clicking Check for Updates.
- File Not Found: Newton cannot find the specified file. The file must have been moved after being
placed in the queue.
- Layer Move Profile Error: The file to be simulated has custom CSV movement profiles, but there
was a problem with one or more of the movement profiles. Make sure to check the following (also
see Section 4.3.9):
o If your movement profile contains rotation, but you have not specified any custom rotation
vectors, check that each layer using rotation has a non-zero rotation vector specified in the
Geometry input page. See the Help window on the Layer Movement Profile window for
more information.
o If your movement profile contains rotation and you have specified custom rotation vectors
in the LMP, check that the first move that has a non-zero rotation rate also has a non-zero
rotation vector.
- # Clusters > License Type: The input file was created with a different version of Newton that allows
more clusters to be generated. The file cannot be run until the material is regenerated with the
proper number of clusters.
- Missing rotation vector: One or more of the layers has a Rotation Rate specified on the Geometry
page, but the corresponding Rotation Axis is a zero-length vector (0, 0, 0). To have rotation, a
vector about which to rotate the model must be defined.
When running simulations via the File Queuing window, you can still pause and stop the simulations
using the Pause and Stop commands in the Solver dropdown menu. Clicking the Stop command in this
dropdown menu is identical to clicking the Skip to Next Simulation button in the file queuing window.

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5.2 Starting a Simulation

5.2.1 General Simulation Information

After you have set the input parameters and material properties, imported the chute geometry, created
the belts, and generated the material, it is finally time to run a simulation. Save your input file, and then
go to the Solver menu and click Run.

Figure 5.2.1 – Click Run to start the simulation

After you click run, it may take a few minutes for Newton to begin the simulation. At this point, Newton
is loading hundreds of thousands of variables into memory and doing many pre-simulation calculations.
While these pre-simulation calculations are performed, Newton will display Preparing Simulation –
Please Wait in the rendering window.
It should also be noted that if your simulation has many triangles (over 20,000), then it may take as long
as 10 minutes for the simulation to begin. While Newton prepares the simulation, you will not be able
to click any buttons on the toolbar, nor will you be able to right-click to bring up a context menu. If the
words ‘(Not Responding)’ appear in the title bar, this simply indicates that Newton is doing calculations
and is not responding to commands from the Windows operating system, but Newton has not crashed.
Once the simulation starts, the rendering window will begin showing frames from the simulation. Figure
5.2.2 shows a simulation in progress.

Figure 5.2.2 – A simulation in progress

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The top left corner of the rendering window displays simulation time in seconds, and in percent of total
simulation completed. Below that are the run time and the estimated time to completion of the
simulation (ETC). Finally, below the run time are the current cluster and particle count.
If you are dropping material in layers, then when you generated material , Newton most likely told you
that you generated some 200,000 particles (for example). But when you run the simulation, you will
never see ‘Particles = 200,000’ in the top left corner, because only a fraction of those particles are
moving through the simulation at one time. It would be very inefficient to actually generate all 200,000
particles at once and throw them all into a hopper above the feed belt.
The top right corner contains the Color Scale. In most cases, this legend will show material velocity, but
it will change based on the material view settings (see Section 5.3).

5.2.2 Rendering Window Context Menu

By default, Newton shows all layers as wireframe and colors the particles by velocity, with the velocity
scale ranging from 0-5 m/s. Right-clicking in the rendering window will bring up the context menu
shown in Figure 5.2.3. This context menu is very similar to the menus described in Section 4.3.7 and
Section 3.4.3, but it contains a few additional commands.

Figure 5.2.3 – Rendering window context menu with Velocity Scale submenu open
Pan, Orbit, Zoom, Zoom Window, None, Preset Views, Show UCS Icon: See Section 4.3.7
Orbit C.G.: This allows you to choose the point about which the model will rotate. By default, Newton
rotates the model about the origin, but this can be changed to rotate about the center of gravity of any
layer.
Orbit Sensitivity: This allows you to choose how quickly the model rotates when you are in Orbit mode.

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Orbit Commands: Click this opens the advanced orbit commands, which are displayed on the right side
of the rendering window (outlined in magenta in Figure 5.2.3). These commands allow you to rotate the
model based on the current camera view.
Input Box: Enter the specified rotation amount in this text box, in degrees.
Left/Right: The left/right arrows will rotate the model about the vertical axis (running vertically
up and down the screen).
Up/Down: The up/down arrows will rotate the model about the horizontal axis (running left and
right across the screen)
CW/CCW: The clockwise/counter-clockwise arrows will rotate the model about the axis which
points out of the screen (i.e. it rotates the model in a CW/CCW fashion).
Surfaces: See Section 3.4.3.
Particles: See Section 3.4.3.
Velocity Scale: This submenu allows you to quickly change the velocity scale for the particles without
having to open the Surface and Material Visualization window. Clicking one of the scales in this
submenu will also change the particle color mode to Color by Velocity.
Geometry: This submenu contains commands for showing or hiding extraneous geometry.
Triangle Normal Vectors: Enabling this option will render a magenta vector at the center of
gravity of each triangle. The direction of the vector represents the positive normal vector of the
triangle.
Killboxes: Enabling this option will render all killboxes in the rendering window. Active killboxes
will be shaded magenta, which inactive killboxes will be shaded gray.
Simulation Bounds: Enabling this option will render the min/max X, Y, and Z bounds for the
simulation.
SMV Window: Opens the Surface and Material Visualization (SMV) window (see Section 5.3).

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5.3 Surface and Material Visualization

The Surface and Material Visualization (SMV) window can be accessed by clicking on the associated
toolbar button or right-clicking in the rendering window and selecting Layer Properties. This window
can only be accessed during a simulation or during post-processing while you have a Newton playback
file open. During the pre-processing stage, before running a simulation, this window is unavailable. The
SMV window is shown in Figure 5.3.1.

Figure 5.3.1 – SMV window with General tab open

5.3.1 Modifying Layer View Settings

The bottom section of the SMV window contains settings for each geometry layer in the simulation,
including any drop boxes or belts that were created in Newton. Each layer can have a different view
setting and a different color.

Layer Grid
Hidden: Completely hides the layer from view.
Solid: Renders the layer as a solid surface of the chosen color.
Wireframe: Renders a wireframe view of the surface, showing every individual triangle on the layer.
Transparent: Renders the layer as transparent. The transparency level can be set with the slider bar at
the bottom of the Surface Style panel at the top left of of the SMV window.
Work: Renders the work done on the surface. Note that in order to use this setting, you must set Save
Triangle Force & Work Data to YES in the general simulation parameters window before running the
simulation. This option is not available while the simulation is running, it is used only during post-
processing.

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Force: Shows the the force on the layer. Note that in order to use this setting, you must set Save
Triangle Force & Work Data to YES in the general simulation parameters window before running the
simulation. This option is not available while the simulation is running, it is used only during post-
processing.
Outer Line: Shows the major outer lines of the layer. This setting can be combined with any of the
other view settings. For instance, a layer can be set to transparent and then the outer lines can be
turned on to help give the layer clear definition.
Color: Allows you to choose the color for each layer.
The top left corner of the SMV window contains a section entitled Surface Style. The purpose of this
section is to enable you to quickly set layer view settings for the entire model. Each button in the
section will apply the view effect to every layer. Additionally, this section contains the transparency
slider bar, which controls the level of transparency for all layers.

Simple Transparency
The normal transparency mode that Newton employs cannot easily differentiate between the ‘front’
and ‘back’ of a triangle due to the numerical difficulties of properly determining the normal vectors for
an irregular multi-surfaced non-closed non-continuous geometry. This is why sometimes surfaces (most
notably hoods and spoons) are not colored or shaded properly. This effect is especially noticeable when
the outer lines are turned off.
Therefore Newton has a Simple Transparency mode, which essentially ignores the front and back sides
of the triangles and treats all triangles equally. The downside of this is that the transparency must
always be set in the range of 80-100% transparent. This means that Simple Transparency cannot be
used in an AVI that uses an interpolated transparency sweep from 0-100% transparent (i.e. sweeping
from solid to transparent surfaces). However, Simple Transparency looks much better, especially when
viewing a transparent geometry with outer lines turned off.
Simple Transparency is enabled by default. But in the Preferences window, you can specify whether
Newton should Default to Simple Transparency on startup (see Section 3.5.1). To switch Simple
Transparency on or off, use the checkbox below the transparency slider.

Figure 5.3.2 - A transparent geometry with (left) and without (right) Simple Transparency enabled.

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5.3.2 Particle Color Mode

The Particle Color Mode panel in the middle of the SMV window controls how the particles are colored.
The top grid contains some basic coloring modes, but most often you will use the options in the lower
grid.
There are 4 columns in the lower grid: Min, Max, Div, and Dir. The min and max columns specify the
range that will be used for the color scale in the rendering window. The Div column specifies the
number of divisions to set for the color scale.
The Dir column (‘direction’ column, it is too narrow to include the title at the top of the column) controls
the direction for the coloring scheme. It has the options X, Y, Z, and Σ. Σ represents the net direction, or
the L2 Norm of the three cardinal directions.
For example, when coloring particles by velocity, the default setting colors the particles by the Σ particle
speed. This is simply the absolute magnitude of the particle speed. You can change this column to X, Y,
or Z to view only the X, Y, or Z component of the particles’ velocity.
Similarly, when coloring particles by elevation (which is just instantaneous position) you can choose to
color the particles in the X, Y, or Z direction. The Σ direction does not apply to Fixed-Position and
Elevation because it has no practical application for these color modes.
Uniform Color: Colors all particles the same color. Double-click the adjacent Color grid cell to select the
color.
Cluster Type: Recall that a particle set is made up of one or more unique cluster types. Selecting this
option will color the material based on the cluster type. The color of each cluster type can be set by
double-clicking the adjacent Color grid cell.
Transparent: Sets some of the cluster types as transparent, and other types as solid color. This feature
is useful if you are trying to track the position of specific lumps in the material flow. For instance, if you
had a material set with mostly 40-100 mm, but also a few 300 mm lumps, you could change all the 40-
100 mm particles transparent, and set the 300 mm lumps to solid red, as shown in Figure 5.3.3.
Each unique cluster type for the material set is assigned an ID #. If you are not sure which cluster type is
which, you can start another instance of the Newton program and open the input file that you used to
run the simulation. Click on the Material Size Distribution Library and select the material set from the
dropdown box on that page. Then click the Group List tab at the bottom of the window, and you can
see the ID # for each cluster type, which is shown in the first column.
There are two sets of input boxes adjacent to the Transparent radio button. Each set allows you to
choose a range of cluster ID’s that will appear as a solid color. All other cluster types will be transparent.
So for instance, if you want the first two cluster types to be solid, as well as the last cluster type (assume
that cluster ID # is 10), then you would enter ‘1’ and ‘2’ in the first set of input boxes, and ‘10’ and ‘10’ in
the second set of input boxes. This will color cluster 1, 2 and 10 as solid color, and the rest will be
transparent. Cluster types 1 and 2 will be colored according to the first color, and cluster 10 will be
colored according to the second color. You can select the two solid colors that will be used by double-
clicking the Color grid cells adjacent to the radio button.

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Figure 5.3.3 – Transparent particle setting: lumps are red, chains are magenta
Velocity: The default coloring mode is velocity. This colors each cluster based on its X, Y, Z, or Σ
velocity. The Σ velocity is just the absolute particle speed. In order to view only the X, Y, or Z direction,
set the final column to X, Y, or Z. Note that in order to view the X, Y, or Z velocities, you must set Save
Particle Force & Work Data to YES in the general simulation parameters window before running the
simulation. Otherwise the playback file will only save the Σ particle speed (this helps keep the output
playback file size small).
Fixed-Position: When this radio button is selected, all clusters in the simulation are immediately
colored according to their current X, Y, or Z position. As the simulation progresses, the color of each
cluster remains the same despite changes in cluster position. This allows you to see how the material
flows through the simulation. It is particularly useful if you are simulating bin or hopper flow. Coloring
the particles by Fixed-Z allows us to see how the geometry in Figure 5.3.4 will empty and whether there
will be patches of stagnant particles around the lower edges.

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Figure 5.3.4 – Fixed-Z particle coloring at the instant it is enabled (left) and 3 seconds later (right)
Elevation: Colors each cluster according to its instantaneous X, Y, or Z position. Unlike Fixed-Position,
this setting uses a gradiated color scale, and the color of each cluster will change as the particles move
through the simulation.
Dimension: Colors each cluster according to its dimension in the X, Y, Z, or Σ direction. The Σ direction is
just the maximum cluster size along any axis. The X, Y, and Z dimensions are the maximum cluster size
in the X, Y, and Z directions, relative to how the cluster was originally defined in the Cluster Creator (see
Section 4.7). You will almost always use the Σ direction because this will always be the longest cluster
length.
Mass: Colors each cluster according to its mass. This setting has no associated direction, so the direction
column is grayed out.
Force: This colors each cluster according to the X, Y, Z, or Σ normal force applied to it. In order to view
particle force data, you must set Save Particle Force & Work Data to YES in the general simulation
parameters window before running the simulation.
Relative Velocity: This mode is used when you want to view the cluster velocity relative to some other
velocity (i.e. a conveyor belt). Typically you would use this when you are viewing the clusters as they
discharge on a receiving belt.
1. Enter receiving belt X velocity into the Min grid cell.
2. Enter receiving belt Y velocity into the Max grid cell.
3. Enter receiving belt Z velocity into the Div grid cell.
4. Set the direction column to Σ.
Then Newton will take the velocity of each cluster and subtract the receiving belt velocity components,
showing you the net speed of each cluster relative to the receiving belt.

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If you set the direction column to X, then Newton will take the X-velocity of each cluster and subtract
the X-velocity of the receiving belt that you entered into the Min grid cell. Then you will be viewing just
the X-velocity of each cluster relative to the receiving belt. The same is true if you set the direction
column to Y or Z.
In order to view Relative Velocity, you must set Save Particle Force & Work Data to YES in the general
simulation variables window before running the simulation.
Particle Work: Displays the work done on each cluster. As with work on chute surfaces, the main
reason for modeling particle work is not to determine the absolute work done on the particle, but rather
to determine the relative particle work from one chute design to another. Note that in order to use this
setting, you must to set Save Particle Force & Work Data to YES in the general simulation variables
window. This option is disabled while the simulation is running. It is only used during post-processing.
The grid cells next to the Work radio button are grayed out because all view settings for particle work
are controlled on the Work tab of the SMV window (see Section 6.4.5).

5.3.3 Particle Style, Outline Tolerance

Newton contains several different display options for the particles. Figure 5.3.5 shows each type of
particle rendering method.
Hidden: The particles are hidden from view.
Lumpy: The particles are rendered as low-resolution ‘lumpy’ spheres.
Smooth: The particles are rendered as high-resolution ‘smooth’ spheres.
Specular: The particles are rendered as high-resolution smooth spheres with specular lighting, giving
them shiny and metallic appearance.
Meshed: Clusters will be meshed, giving them an irregular appearance (see Section 4.7 and Figure
4.7.3). Note that this effect is for appearances only and does not affect the simulation calculations.
Position Tracers: Newton will create a position trail for each particle. The color of the trail represents
the velocity history of the particle (if the particle color mode is set to Velocity).
Lines: Each sphere of each cluster is rendered as a set of 3 orthogonal lines. This is the fastest
rendering mode (besides Hidden).

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Figure 5.3.5 – Particle Rendering Methods

Below the material visualization is a section entitled Outline Tolerance. This is to remove extraneous
lines from the wireframe view of the chute geometry. Set the outline tolerance higher to remove more
lines. Generally, this should be set between 0-10 degrees. Figure 5.3.6 shows chute geometry with and
without the tolerance enabled.

Figure 5.3.6 – Chute Geometry without (left) and with (right) Outline Tolerance
You can also choose one layer that will be excluded from the outline tolerance by entering the number
of that layer in the Exclude Layer input box. All other layers will use the outline tolerance.

5.3.4 Clip Boxes

The clip box options are located in the top right corner of the SMV window. Clip box enable you to
create sectioned views of the model, or hide unwanted particles and triangles from view. Up to 5 clip
boxes can be inserted into the model. For each clip box, input the following parameters:
XYZ Position: Specify the position for the clip box. This is the point from which each of the six sides of
the clip box will extend, and it is the point about which the clip box will rotate.

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Len+: The X, Y, and Z inputs correspond to the distance from the center of the clip box to the positive
length, width, and height faces, respectively.
Len-: The X, Y, and Z inputs correspond to the distance from the center of the clip box to the negative
length, width, and height faces, respectively.
Z-Ang: The rotation of the clip box about the vertical (Z) axis.
With the Len+ and Len- inputs, any of the six sides of the rotated clip plane can be independently
extended or retracted without having to mess with the XYZ position of the box.
In the first drop down box, select whether to turn the clip plane Off, to Show Data in Box, or to Hide
Data in Box. In the second drop down box, select whether to apply the clip effect to Particles, Triangles,
Lines, or All Objects.
If two or more clip planes have intersecting spaces, then any clip plane which is designated to Show
Data in Box will trump any plane that is designated to Hide Data in Box. Figure 5.3.7 shows two clip
plane boxes inserted into a model. The first box is set to hide all data from -1.5 to +1.5 in the X, Y, and Z
directions. The second box is set to show particles from -0.75 to +0.75 in the X, Y, and Z directions.

Figure 5.3.7 – Geometry with and without Clip Boxes

5.3.5 Color Scale

In the bottom-right corner of the General tab of the SMV window there is a section for controlling the
color scale. The checkbox next to Color Scale allows you to turn the color scale on or off. This setting is
saved with the key frames file (see Section 6.4.1)
Use the Horz or Vert radio buttons to specify whether the color scale should be oriented in the
horizontal or vertical direction. Additionally, you can set the size of the color scale using the adjacent
text box. Specify the thickness of the color scale in pixels (10-30), and Newton will adjust the length of
the color scale accordingly. If you leave the checkbox unchecked, then Newton will automatically size
the color scale according to the height of the rendering window.
You can specify whether Newton should use a horizontal or a vertical color scale by default in the
Preferences window (see Section 3.5.1).

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6 Post-Processing

6.1 Uncompressed Playback Files (*.UCM)

The data from each simulation is saved inside a Newton uncompressed playback (*.UCM) file. All post-
processing for each simulation is performed using these playback files. To open an uncompressed file,
open the File menu, and click on Open Playback File, or click the Open Playback File button on the main
button bar.

6.1.1 Merging Playback Files

If a simulation was interrupted or stopped, then when the simulation is restarted, Newton will save the
data to a new uncompressed data file. After the simulation is complete, these separate data files should
be merged together. To merge multiple data files together, open the File menu, expand the Playback
Tools submenu, and click on Merge Playback Files. Newton will open a window like the one shown in
Figure 6.1.1.

Figure 6.1.1 – Merge Playback Files window

Up to 5 files can be merged at one time. The number of files that are created during a simulation is
equal to 1 + the number of simulation restarts that occurred (due to power outages or similar
circumstances). Usually no more than 2 or 3 files will need to be merged together. Clicking the File #
button next to each file to merge will open a file prompt allowing you to select the files to merge.
Clicking Clear will remove the file from its adjacent text box. Once you select the first file to merge, the
text box Merged File Location will automatically populate with a similar file name. Click the Merge
button to begin merging the playback files. While the playback files are merging, Newton will display the
window shown in Figure 6.1.2.

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Figure 6.1.2 – Merge File Window

Newton will open and read each uncompressed data file, and then merge the files together. Depending
on the size of the uncompressed files, this process can take up to 30 minutes to complete (so be
patient). When the merging process is finished, Newton will display a popup window confirming that
the file was merged successfully and giving the merged file frame count.
When merging the files together, Newton will only add a frame if the timestamp on that frame is higher
than the previous frame. So it is important that you add the files in the proper order.

6.1.2 Exporting a Playback File to a DXF File

Any frame in a Newton playback file can be exported to a DXF CAD file. Open the File menu, expand the
Playback Tools submenu, and click on Export Playback File to DXF. Newton will open a window giving
you several export options, shown in Figure 6.1.3.

Figure 6.1.3 – DXF Export window

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What to Export
Choose whether to export the triangles (layers), clusters, or both. You can export the clusters as
spheres or as lines which show the position of each sphere. Exporting as spheres requires about twice
as much file space, but will look better when the file is opened in AutoCAD. Figure 6.1.4 shows a set of
spheres exported both as spheres and as lines.
You can export position tracers as well. Newton uses the currently-visible tracers, so before exporting,
make sure you enable position tracers and skip forward a few frames so that Newton generates the
tracers.

Figure 6.1.4 – Clusters exported as lines (left) and as spheres (right)

“ “ to “_”: Some CAD programs do not support DXF files that have spaces in the layer name. By default,
Newton will replace all spaces with underscores for compatibility. If you uncheck this box, underscores
will not be used.
All Clusters 1 Layer: By default, Newton places all clusters on the same layer when exporting. If you
uncheck this box, Newton will create different layer for each cluster type.
How Many Clusters
If your playback file contains hundreds of thousands of clusters, you may only want to export some of
those clusters to save file space. You can choose to export all clusters, 10% of the clusters, or only 1% of
the clusters.
Export Bounds
By default, Newton will export triangles and spheres from the entire simulation domain. If you only
want to export a small section of the file, you can select X, Y, and Z bounds from which Newton will
export triangles and/or spheres. Additionally, you can choose whether to apply these bounds to
clusters, triangles, or both; this is useful if you want to export the entire geometry for convenient
reference, but you only want to export particles from one section of the chute or belt.
When you click the Specify region for export radio button, Newton will automatically fill in the
minimum and maximum X, Y, and Z boxes with values from Clip Box 1, if Clip Box 1 has been set (see
Section 5.3.4). It doesn’t matter if Clip Box 1 is set to show or hide the information, it only matters that
the minimum and maximum bounds have been specified. Therefore, the easiest course of action is to
select the desired export region using Clip Box 1 so that you are sure of what region is being exported,
and then to open the Export DXF window, allowing Newton to automatically copy those values. Note
that the rotation of the clip box will be ignored. Only the min/max bounds will be used.

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6.1.3 Reducing and Repairing Playback Files

If the Newton simulation crashed before it was completed, then each time you open the corresponding
.UCM data file, Newton will always display the popup box shown in Figure 6.1.5.

Figure 6.1.5 – File Error popup that displays when opening an incomplete simulation
This occurs because Newton detects incomplete simulation data in the data file, and this can be
repaired. The tool that repairs playback files can also be used to reduce playback files. If a playback file
size is too large, or if for any other reason you want to reduce a playback file, Newton allows you to do
this.
Open the File menu, expand the Playback Tools submenu, and click on Reduce Playback File. A window
like the one shown in Figure 6.1.6 will be opened.

Figure 6.1.6 – Playback File Reduction/Repair

DEM Input File: Select the input file to be repaired or reduced. This can be either an uncompressed file
(*.UCM) or a single-frame playback file (*.PBF).

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Reduced Frame Interval: If you want to make the uncompressed file smaller by removing frames, then
enter an integer in this box. Entering 0 will retain all frames and will simply fix any file errors that
Newton finds. Entering 1 will remove every other frame, entering 2 will remove 2 out of 3 frames, etc.
Start Time: If you want to remove frames from the start or end of the uncompressed file, then enter
the desired starting time for the new uncompressed file in this input box.
End Time: In order to keep all frames after the Start Time, leave this box blank. Otherwise, enter the
simulation time for the last frame of the new file.
Specifically Exclude Work Information: During the pre-processing for the simulation, you may have set
Save Triangle Force & Work Data or Save Particle Force & Work Data to YES. This would result in a
much larger uncompressed file size. If this information is not necessary, then you can check this box and
Newton will remove that data from the file, decreasing the file size.
Compress Crunched File: Select whether Newton should compress the file to save space. Newton
playback files are always compressed by default, so we recommend leaving this option checked.
Reduce: When you have entered all the information, click this button and Newton will reduce or repair
the data file.
Batch Reduce: If you want to create a file queue to reduce multiple files, Newton allows you to do this.
Create a text file, and enter the complete file path for each file, one per line, as shown in Figure 6.1.7.
Once you have created this text file, click the Batch Reduce button and open that text file. Newton will
reduce/repair each file using same specified input parameters.

Figure 6.1.7 – Batch Text File

Cancel: Click this button to cancel all playback file operations and return to the Newton interface.

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6.2 Calculating the Solids Ratio for a Particle Set

6.2.1 Calculating Solids Ratio

When creating a particle set, one of the most important parameters to set is the Solids Ratio. This ratio
specifies the ratio of solid material to total space occupied. Figure 6.2.1 shows two cylinders filled with
material from the same particle set. Newton was set to generate the same volume of material for each
cylinder.

Figure 6.2.1 – Same particle set, different Solids Ratios

For the left cylinder, the solids ratio was set at 0.580, and for the right cylinder, the solids ratio was set
at 0.480. The difference in the amount of material generated is exactly proportional to the difference in
the solids ratio. The question is, what is the proper solids ratio for a particle set?
If we know the volume of the cylinder into which we will drop the material, and we set Newton to
generate the same volume of material, then when we drop the material into the cylinder, we should see
that the material completely fills the cylinder. If the material is slightly below the top of the cylinder,
then the solid/void ratio is set too low. Similarly, if the material overflows, spilling out of the cylinder,
then the solids ratio is set too high.
Newton is able to automatically calculate the solids ratio for a material set. In order to do this, you will
use one of the example Newton input files that was installed on your computer. Open the File menu,
and click Open Input File. Navigate to the Newton install directory, open the Examples directory, and
open up one of the three following Newton input files:
Material_Density_400mm_Cylinder.nwt
Material_Density_600mm_Cylinder.nwt
Material_Density_1200mm_Cylinder.nwt

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These input files contain cylinders with the specified radius. The size of the cylinder you use depends on
the size of the particles in your particle set. The goal is to have a simulation that uses 50,000 to 200,000
particles. In order to accurately calculate the solids ratio, the simulation must use a large number of
particles.
Once the input file is opened, navigate to the Size Distribution library. If your particle set is saved in the
default Newton particle library file, then select it from the drop down menu. Otherwise, open the
library file containing your particle set, then select your particle set from the drop down menu.

Figure 6.2.2 – Set the Solids Ratio for the particle set
Confirm all the parameters for your particle set, and then make sure that solids ratio is set to 0.55.
Next, open Material Generation window, where the material is generated for the simulation. Select
your particle set from the Material Group Set drop down box and click the Generate Particles button.
For more information about generating material for simulations, see Section 4.5.
After Newton has generated the particles, make sure that about 50,000 to 200,000 particles were
generated. If less than 50,000 particles were generated, then you should use a larger cylinder. If more
than 200,000 particles were generated, you may use a smaller cylinder to save computation time. But
the more particles that are dropped into the cylinder, the more accurate the calculated solids ratio will
be.
After the material has been generated, check the simulation input parameters in the General Variables
window. The default settings should work fine, but you may want to change the file name and file save
location. For more information about setting the parameters in this window, see Section 4.1. Save a
copy of the input file, and then run the simulation by opening the Solver menu, and clicking Run.

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Figure 6.2.3 – Solids ratio simulation in progress

Allow the simulation to run completely. After about 1 second, it will look like all the material has
dropped into the material and settled, but it can take much longer for all the material to completely
settle. Run the simulation for at least 3 full seconds, and do not stop the simulation early.
When the simulation is complete, do not close Newton. Open the Solver menu, and click Calculate
Solids Ratio. A popup window will appear, asking for the radius of the cylinder. Enter the cylinder
radius in meters and click Calculate.

Figure 6.2.4 – Enter the cylinder radius in the input box

Newton will calculate the height of the material in the cylinder, and use the input cylinder radius to
calculate the volume of material. Newton will then display a popup window similar to the one in Figure

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6.2.5. This window outputs the height of material in the cylinder (for reference only), as well as the
solids ratio.

Figure 6.2.5 – Solids Ratio popup box

Finally, go back to the Size Distribution library, select your particle set from the drop down box, and set
the solids ratio according to the popup box from Figure 6.2.5. Be sure to save the library file after
making this change. Now your material set is properly calibrated and it can be used for simulations.

6.2.2 Setting Material Properties Parameters

The three cylinder input files discussed in Section 6.2.1 for calibrating particle sets have the friction
settings set to free-flowing, with no cohesion. Some users might want to set the friction and cohesion
levels to relatively high settings when calculating solids ratios for particle sets when the particle sets
correspond to high friction, highly cohesive material. AC-Tek recommends using free-flowing settings
when calibrating particle sets for the reasons described below.
When generating material, it is important that the proper volume of material is generated on the belt. A
common method for checking this volume of material is to estimate the area of a cross-section of
particles on the belt, and multiply that value by the belt speed. Newton can export the surfaces of a
model, including the belts and the particles, to do this analysis (see Section 6.1.2).
Figure 6.2.6 shows several belt sections loaded with particles, and the approximate cross-sectional areas
for each of those sections.

Figure 6.2.6 – Estimating cross-sectional area on a belt

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Depending on the thickness of the slice used for estimation, the estimated area can differ quite
significantly (The areas of largest and smallest sections in Figure 6.2.6 differ by over 20%). Ideally, of
course, the slice would be 1 particle thick and would be integrated along the entire length of the belt,
giving the exact volume of material on the belt. It should also be noted that when the slice thickness
becomes very small (<= 200 mm), the gaps between the particles on the belt are clearly visible. On a
real conveyor, these ‘gaps’ would be mostly filled in with fines. However, Newton does not model the
finest of particles, rather it gives the entire material set the same ‘global flow properties’ as very fine
material has. The presence of these gaps under high friction conditions leads to the area calculation
being artificially high. This is one reason why AC-Tek recommends calculating the solids ratio using low
friction settings.
Consider Figures 6.2.7 through 6.2.10. These figures were exported from four Newton simulations in
which material was dropped onto a belt under two different friction settings, using Solid/Void ratios that
were calculated using free-flowing and high friction settings. The goal of these simulations was to
compare the estimated cross-sectional area of material on the belt in each case. In these figures, the
yellow area line represents the approximate cross-sectional area of material on the belt. The white area
line represents the theoretical cross-sectional area for the given tonnage and belt speed.

Figure 6.2.7 – Free-Flowing simulation using an SV ratio calculated under high friction conditions

Figure 6.2.8 – High friction simulation us an SV ratio calculated under high friction conditions

Figure 6.2.9 – Free-flowing simulation using an SV ratio calculated under low friction conditions

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Figure 6.2.10 – High friction simulation using an SV ratio calculated under low friction conditions
It should be noted that although the percent-error calculation is +7.9% for the simulation in Figure 6.2.8,
when the white and yellow area lines are compared, they are so close together that the case could even
be made that they are essentially the same line. And when analyzing Figure 6.2.10, when the gaps
between the particles (particularly near the top of the material, i.e. the empty space) are considered,
the experimental and theoretical areas are not very different.
Additionally, for high-friction cases, there are large gaps between the particles due to the high
coefficient of friction between the particles. On a real conveyor, these gaps would be at least partially
filled by fine material, which Newton does not model. Newton gives the entire flow the same ‘global
flow properties’ to compensate for this. In the DEM simulation, when the high-friction material flows
into a chute and piles up, the particles are squeezed together and a lot of that space is eliminated. It is
at this point in the simulation that that it is imperative that there is enough material on the belt. When
in doubt, being slightly conservative is better, because if a certain transfer chute does not plug up under
a conservative case, then it shouldn’t plug up using a smaller solid/void ratio either (i.e. a solids ratio
that had been calculated using high friction settings, rather than AC-Tek’s recommend low friction
settings). And if the chute does plug up under a slightly conservative case, then it’s probably a good
indication that the chute needs to be adjusted in some way in any case.
Furthermore, in real conveyor engineering, there is often be a significant variability in the ‘calculated’
value of the bulk density (and in some case even the tonnage) that is used (possibly as much as 10-15%).
And the consistency and material properties of the ore on the belt can vary over the course of a day due
to weather as well (temperature, sunshine, relative humidity, etc.).
With all this in mind, whether the solids ratio is calculated using low friction or high friction settings is
left to the discretion of the user. AC-Tek recommends using low friction settings for the reasons stated
above.

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6.3 Playback Frames (*.PBF)

One great tool that Newton has is the ability to create playback files which contain all the simulation
data for a single frame. These files are very small (no more than 5 MB), so they can easily be passed
around via email. You can pan, zoom, and rotate the model, as well as modify all the view settings using
the SMV window (see Section 5.3). Playback files are vastly more informative than screen shots.
Playback frames can be created while the simulation is running, or after you have opened an
uncompressed playback file for post-processing. To create a frame while the simulation is running, open
the Solver menu and click Save Current Frame.

Figure 6.3.1 – Saving a playback frame during a simulation

To save a playback frame during post-processing (while a playback file is open), open the File menu, and
click Save Playback Frame, or click the Save Playback Frame button on the main toolbar.

Figure 6.3.2 – Saving a playback frame during post-processing

To view playback files on computers that do not have Newton installed, Newton Viewer must be
installed. To obtain a copy of Newton Viewer, email a request to AC-Tek at info@actek.com. Newton
Viewer can be used to open UCM and PBF playback files. Input files cannot be opened with Newton
Viewer.

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6.4 Creating Animations

Even more powerful than creating playback frames is Newton’s ability to create animations using the
simulation data. The animations can include as much or as little of the simulation as you want. The files
are compressed using the Xvid codec, resulting in a reasonable 10-250 MB file size.

6.4.1 AVI Creator Window

To begin creating an animation, open up the desired playback file for which you want an animation, and
then click the AVI Creator button on the playback toolbar. The window shown in Figure 6.4.1 will open.
A few key frames have already been added.

Figure 6.4.1 – AVI Creator window

You will also want to open the SMV window, because this window is how you will modify the camera
view, layer properties, and material settings. Information about using the SMV window to modify the
view settings was described in Section 5.3. The general settings for the AVI Creator window are
described below. Information about key frames is discussed in Section 6.4.3
Open File: This button allows you to open a saved key frames file (*.KFF). Key frames files can be used
across different simulations, but the view settings for the layers apply to the specific order of the layers.
So if in one simulation, the Receive Belt is the first layer, but on a second simulation, the ‘Receive Belt’ is
the second layer, then when applying a key frames file from the first simulation to the second
simulation, the ‘Receive Belt’ settings will be applied to whatever the first layer is for the second
simulation. For this reason, it is best to use a few layers as possible for the simulation, and to use
identical numbers of layers, and identical layer names for each revision of a given transfer chute. That

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way, you only have to create a key frames file once, and it can be used to create animations for all
simulations using that chute.
Save File: Saves the animation settings to a Newton key frames file (*.KFF). You should always save a
key frames file when you create an animation. If you made a small error in the key frames, it could ruin
the animation; instead of having to recreate the entire animation, you can open the key frames file,
make the small correction, and re-encode the animation.
Create AVI: This button creates the animation file. Clicking this button will open a file prompt, so you
can choose where to save the animation. After this prompt, another window will open, prompting you
which codec to select. This window is shown in Figure 6.4.2.

Figure 6.4.2 – AVI Codec window

You may use any codec on the list to encode your animation file. Or you can choose Full Frames
(Uncompressed), which will not compress the file at all. The file size will be huge (10x larger or more,
than Xvid Codec), and the picture quality will only be slightly better than using any other codec. If you
installed the Xvid codec from the Newton CD-ROM (see Section 2) you can use this codec to encode the
file.
Click OK after selecting a codec and Newton will create the animation. Note that Newton renders the
animation in the Newton rendering window as the file is created. While the animation is being created,
all controls are disabled so that you cannot accidentally move the model and mess up the animation.
Quick View: This button provides a convenient way to check the layer and view options of the
animation before creating it. The particles will be hidden from view, and Newton will play the animation
quickly, showing interpolation between key frames.
Resync Times: Consider a key frames file you created for some Simulation A. Let’s say you run some
other Simulation B, and you would like to use the key frames file that you saved from Simulation A to
create an animation for Simulation B, but the problem is that Simulation B is much longer than
Simulation A, so the key frames file would only cover a small portion of Simulation B. If you open the
playback file for Simulation B, and then open the key frames file anyway, you can click Resync Times.
Newton will change the time stamp and frame number on each key frame so that the Percent on the key
frame is the same as it was for Simulation A.
Time Shift: Enter a time in seconds in the adjacent input box. Then click this button and Newton will
shift the time stamp on all key frames by that amount.
Screen Size: Use the drop down box to select the desired screen size for the animation. Or you can set
the drop down box to Custom and manually enter a screen size in the input boxes below. You can also

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drag and resize the screen while the drop down box is set to Custom and Newton will automatically
change the size in the input boxes (See Section 6.4.2).
Frame Rate: Enter the desired frame rate (in frames per second) in the adjacent input box.
Frame Skipping: This feature allows you to skip frames in the video, creating an animation with fewer
frames, and therefore smaller file size. If you enter ‘1’, Newton will render every other frame. If you
enter ‘2’, Newton render 1 frame, then skip 2 frames, etc.
Frame skipping cannot be used if you are including triangle or particle work in the animation file. The
triangle and particle work is saved with each specific data frame, so skipping frames during creation of
the animation will also cause Newton to skip the work data in those frames, resulting in an incorrect
work summation value.
Show Particle Count: Check this box to have Newton display the number of particles and clusters in the
animation file. Note that if this box is checked, then the particle and cluster count will override the sub
comment for any key frames. I.e. the sub comments will not be displayed, and the cluster and particle
count will be displayed in its place.
Sine Interpolation: By default, when interpolating between camera views, Newton uses simple linear
interpolation. Checking this checkbox will force Newton to interpolate the views using a Sine function,
identical to how Newton interpolates between camera views if you click the preset view buttons.
Copy Key Frame: This button opens the window shown below, which allows you to quickly copy layer
settings from the current key frame to any other key frame. In the left panel, select the properties that
you want to copy from the current key frame. In the right panel, select the destination key frames.

Figure 6.4.3 – Copy Key Frame window

Main Comments: This text box allows you to enter comments which will be displayed for the entire
duration of the animation. Usually the company and chute name, as well as the revision number,
friction settings, or other important information is entered here.
Label Positions: The label positions text boxes allow you to set the positions of all the labels that appear
in the rendering window. The input values must be integers in the range [0, 100].
Logo Position: This section specifies where to position the AC-Tek logo.

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Text Color/Background Color: These buttons allow you to specify the color of the screen text and the
background for the animation file.

6.4.2 Choosing an Animation Resolution

The first thing you should do once you have opened the AVI Creator window is choose the resolution for
the animation. Use the drop down box under Screen Size to choose the size. The resolution is taken
from the size of the rendering window, so you can manually drag the borders of the Newton window to
create whatever resolution animation you like.
If you have already created key frames that contain specific views and then you change the animation
resolution, Newton will attempt to preserve the views for each key frame, but the views may become
slightly distorted if the aspect ratio is changed. This is why you should always choose the resolution
first.
It is important to remember that larger resolutions will result in larger file sizes. If we were to keep all
options the same, but modify the resolution of the output animation, the approximate relative file sizes
for each resolution would be approximately as follows.
(4:3) 640 x 480: 1.00
(4:3) 800 x 600: 1.56
(4:3) 1024 x 768: 2.56
(4:3) 1280 x 1024: 4.27
(16:9) 854 x 480: 1.33
(16:9) 1027 x 576: 1.92
(16:9) 1280 x 1024: 3.00
This means that using a resolution of 1280x1024 will create a file that is about 4.27 times larger than a
file with resolution 640x480, but it will look much better. For most animations, using either 800x600 or
1024x768 resolution is sufficient. Note that the exact size of each animation will vary significantly
depending on the codec used and the color complexity of the animation.

6.4.3 Creating and Removing Key Frames

Key frames form the base of the animation file. A key frame is a single frame of the animation file for
which you specify the camera view, the layer properties, and the material display and coloring. A typical
animation file will incorporate 15-30 key frames, but it is possible to create an animation file with as few
as 2 key frames. Newton will automatically interpolate between key frames. That is, if a key frame has
one camera view, and the next key frame has a completely different camera view, Newton will
automatically rotate, pan, and zoom the model in the time between those two key frames, resulting in a
smooth animation. If you do not want Newton to perform this interpolation, it can be turned off for
each key frame. Uncheck the Interpolate check box for the key frames for which you do not want
Newton to interpolate. When using the interpolation function to switch between two completely
different views, make sure you allow 2-5 seconds of transition time between key frames or else the
transition will be too fast and garbled.
Figure 6.4.4 shows three key frames for an animation file.

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Figure 6.4.4 – Key frames for an animation

ID: This is just the ID number for the key frame, showing its order in the animation.
Time: This is the time at which the key frame will appear. You can modify the key frame by entering a
new time in this input box. This is usually necessary because it is difficult to slide the frame slider bar to
an exact frame.
Percent: This is the percent through the simulation at which the key frame appears. You can modify the
key frame by entering a new percent in this box. The corresponding time and frame number will be
updated as well.
Frame Number: This is the frame number for the key frame. You can modify the key frame by entering
a new frame number in this box. The corresponding time and percent will be updated as well.
To create the first key frame, navigate to the frame that you want to be the first frame of the animation
using the slider bar near the bottom of the window. Then click Add/Update Key Frame.
Interpolate: Specifies whether Newton will attempt to interpolate the view settings between that key
frame and the next key frame. I.e. if the first key frame has one camera view, and the second key frame
has another camera setting, Newton will pan, orbit, and zoom accordingly in between the key frames to
create a smooth transition.
Sub Comment: Creates a comment that will be displayed in the animation file. The sub comment will
start at the key frame and will be displayed until the next key frame is reached. If the same sub
comment is entered for adjacent key frames, the comment will be displayed uninterrupted in the
animation file for those key frames.
Frame Slider Bar: The frame slider bar is used to quickly navigate around the playback file.
Add/Update Key Frame: The function of this button depends on the position of the frame slider bar. If
the slider bar is positioned at a frame number for which there is no key frame, then clicking this button
will insert a new key frame that that location. If there is a key frame that the slider bar’s location, then
clicking this button will update that key frame with the current view information.
Remove Current Key Frame: This button removes the current highlighted key frame. Unlike the
Add/Update Key Frame button, this button does not depend on the location of the slider bar. This
button will simply remove whichever key frame is currently highlighted in yellow.
After you set the view settings for the current key frame, click the Add/Update Key Frame button to
save the changes. Then advance the slider bar to the position for the next key frame and click the
Add/Update Key Frame button to create the next key frame.

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6.4.4 Modifying View Settings for Key Frames

The settings for each Key Frame are set using the SMV window. Descriptions of each of the options in
this window were given in Section 5.3.
When a new key frame is added to the key frames list, it will use the current view settings.
Almost all the Newton view settings are specific to a key frame, but some of the settings are global, and
cannot be changed between key frames. The settings that are global are highlighted in red in Figure
6.4.5. The chosen material coloring for Uniform Color, material coloring for Cluster Type, outline
tolerance, rotational center of gravity, color scale settings, and Simple Transparency apply to the entire
animation.

Figure 6.4.5 – Global View Settings

Transparency Interpolation: One great feature of the AVI Creator is the ability to interpolate the
transparency of layers. Newton can transition smoothly from solid to transparent layers. To use this
function, create two key frames. The desired transparent layers for both key frames must have the
Transparent check box checked. For the first key frame, slide the Transparency Level slider bar in the
SMV Window all the way to the right. This will create layers that are technically transparent, but the
transparency setting is so low that the layers appear to be solid. On the second key frame, slide the
slider bar to the desired transparency setting. Make sure that the Interpolate check box is checked for
both key frames in the AVI Creator window (it is enabled by default for all key frames). Each of the two
key frames can have different camera settings, material coloring, clip planes, etc.

6.4.5 Analyzing Work on Particles and Chute Surfaces

Newton has the ability to estimate work on particles and chute surfaces. It should be noted that
Newton cannot give exact values of work on particles and chute surfaces. The way that work is
calculated in Newton is different than in traditional impact and fracture mechanics. Therefore,

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The estimated values of work on particles and chute surfaces in Newton is intended to be used for
relative comparison purposes between chute designs and revisions only.
That is, these work values are best used to compare the wear that one chute design would experience
compared to another design. For instance, if Newton calculates 2,000 J of work on a wear plate using
chute design A, and only 1,200 J of work on the same wear plate using design B, then the user could
reasonable assume that chute design B, would reduce the wear on that wear plate by approximately
40%. The user should not assume that the exact values of work on the wear plates for chute designs A
and B are 200 kJ and 120 kJ, respectively.

Setting up a Simulation to Record Work Data

To analyze work on a chute surface, the setting Save Triangle Force & Work Data must have been set to
YES before running the simulation. The work data is encoded into the uncompressed data file, and if
this setting was set to NO, then this data was not calculated or saved, and cannot be estimated. The
same applies for analyzing particle work; the setting Save Particle Force & Work Data must have been
set to YES before running the simulation.
Please also note that when recording wear on a surface, lowering the Critical Time Ratio in the
Simulation Parameters and Runtime Variables window (see Section 4.1) from 0.20 to 0.16. This will
increase the simulation time slightly, but it will help increase the accuracy of the wear calculations as
well.

Viewing Work Data in the Playback File

Open an uncompressed .UCM playback file for a simulation that saved triangle force and work data and
open the AVI Creator window and the SMV window.
In the SMV window (shown previously in Figure 5.3.1), check the Work checkbox next to each layer for
which you would like to see work calculations. Once you click Work for a specific layer, the layer should
immediately turn blue, and the scale in the top right corner that previously said ‘Material Velocity’
should now say ‘Triangle Impact Wear’. Next, select the Work tab in the middle of the SMV window; this
will bring up more options for analyzing triangle work. This window is shown in Figure 6.4.6.

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Figure 6.4.6 – SMV window with Work tab open

Work Type: The first panel allows you to select the type of work to show. Both triangle work data and
cluster work data cannot be viewed at the same time.
To view triangle work data, all of the following must be true:
1. You must have set Save Triangle Force & Work Data to YES in the general simulation
parameters window before running the simulation. If you did not, there will be a red label on
this window stating that triangle work was not saved for this simulation.
2. In the Work Type panel, either Triangle Impact or Triangle Abrasion must be checked.
3. In the lower half of the SMV window, the Layer Style for at least one layer must be set to Work.
To view particle work data, all of the following must be true:
1. You must have set Save Particle Force & Work Data to YES in the general simulation parameters
window before running the simulation. If you did not, there will be a red label on this window
stating that particle work was not saved for this simulation.
2. In the Work Type panel, either Particle Impact or Particle Abrasion must be checked.
3. Particle Color Mode must be set to Work on the General tab of the SMV window.
Use text boxes to set the min, max, and number of scale divisions for the color scale that appears in the
upper right corner of the rendering window. If these input boxes are set to zero or blank, then Newton
will set the minimum to zero and will set the maximum value to 110% of the maximum current work
value.

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Work Units: These two panels allow you to set the work units for triangles and particles. Please note
that these work units should be considered work indexes, rather than strict work units, because the
work feature should be used on a comparison basis for analyzing multiple geometries within Newton.
Screen Labels: Checking the Show Max Work and Show Total Work will display a line of text in the
rendering window. The text that this line displays depends on whether triangle work or particle work is
being shown. If triangle work is being shown, then this text will display the maximum work on any single
triangle that is currently set to show work, as well as the total work done all triangles that are currently
set to show work. If particle work is being shown, then this line will display the maximum work on any
single particle, as well as the total work done on all particles. If the radio button J is selected, then this
text line will display work in Joules, and if J/sec is selected, then the text line will display the work
averaged over time. The position of this line of text can be set in the AVI Creator window (see Section
6.4.1).
Triangle Impact and Abrasion: The middle column of sections contains options for displaying triangle
work.
Triangle Rendering Mode: This option determines how Newton will render triangle work. If Triangular
is selected, then Newton will add up the work from each particle according to the triangle that it
impacts. All the work from that particle will be attributed to that triangle.
Each triangle contains 3 vertices; these are the A, B, and C ‘points’ of the triangle. Each vertex is shared
by multiple triangles, so it is called a ‘node’ rather than a vertex. If Nodal is selected, then Newton will
take the work done by a particle on a triangle, and divide that work between the three nodes of that
triangle. The work done by other triangles attached to the same nodes is also added to those nodes.
Nodal rendering mode is more accurate than Triangular, and we recommend always using Nodal.
Figure 6.4.7 shows the difference between Nodal and Triangular rendering modes.

Figure 6.4.7 – Triangular versus Nodal Work Rendering

Note that when work is rendered as Nodal, it appears that less total work is calculated but this is not
true. The work is being divided between the nodes of the triangle, so the work is just more evenly
distributed, but the same total work is being calculated regardless of the rendering mode. Nodal
rendering mode also presents a much cleaner, more even rendering.
Work Summary: This panel contains controls for generating a work summary.
1. If you want to view triangle work, set the Layer Style to Work in the lower section of the SMV
window for each layer for which you want to show triangle work.
2. If you want to view particle work, set Particle Color Mode to Work on the General tab of the
SMV window.

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3. Enter the start and end times for the wear summary in the text boxes in the Wear Summary
panel.
4. Click the Generate button. Newton will render the triangle/particle work in the rendering
window.
While the work summary is generating, you can change any of the settings in the Work tab of the SMV
window without disturbing the wear data. This means you can flip back and forth between work types
in the Work Type panel, change the min/max scales, change the work units, or the rendering mode.
Even though you can only view one type of work at a time, Newton keeps track of all work types
throughout the duration of the work summary (assuming you followed the steps above).
If, while a work summary is generating, you change a Layer Style to Work, the work summary will stop
and all work data will be reset. Similarly, if you set Particle Color Mode to Work while a work summary
is generating, the work summary will stop and all work data will be reset.
Notes about Work:
1. Newton calculates work in real-time, as the particles fall onto the triangles. So if you are
interested in the amount of work done on a layer from 0-10 seconds, you must set the slider bar
to 0 seconds, and then click the Play button to render the work. (Or you can use the Work
Summary panel, as described above). But if the slider bar is set to, say, 2.5 seconds, and then
you click Play, Newton will only render the work that is done from 2.5 seconds onward.
2. If you have generated some wear, and then you skip to a different part of the playback file and
you want to render the work there, you should click the Reset Work Data button to reset the
work values, or else Newton will continue to add the new work data to the values that were
already calculated.
If you forget to do this, Newton should display a text message in the rendering window that says
‘Warning: Work summation not reset!’
3. You cannot use Frame Skipping during playback or when creating an AVI if you are showing
particle or triangle work. This is because the work data is encoded into each frame of data. So if
frame skipping is enabled, then Newton will skip over frames and the work data from those
frames will not be added to the wear summary.

Integrating Work into an Animation File

Integrating work into an animation file is easy. For the key frames that you want to show particle or
layer work, simply select Particle Work in the SMV window or check the Work checkbox next to each
layer to show the work. While creating the animation file, when Newton reaches the key frames where
work is shown, Newton will automatically calculate the wear summary for that time frame and integrate
it into the animation file. You just need to ensure that you’ve selected the desired settings under the
Work tab of the SMV window for those key frames.
Each of the work settings described in this section is saved with each key frame. So at different points of
an animation, you can show different work types or min/max scales.
Notes about Work in an AVI File:
1. As mentioned previously, you cannot use Frame Skipping when creating an animation
containing work data (see point #3 in the ‘Notes about Work’ section above).
2. When generating work, Newton will continuously sum the work data. However, Newton will
reset the work data if any of the following occur:

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a. Newton reaches a key frame in which one of the Layer Styles is set to Work and the
previous key frame did not have that Layer Style set to Work.
b. Newton reaches a key frame in which the Particle Color Mode is set to Work and the
previous key frame did not have Particle Color Mode set to Work
c. Newton reaches a key frame where all layers are not set to Work and Particle Color
Mode is not set to Work.

6.4.6 Analyzing Perpendicular and Parallel Triangle Forces

Newton can plot the parallel and perpendicular forces applied to layers with a surface velocity in the
model. This feature is intended primarily for analyzing forces on feed and receiving belts. As with the
Work feature,
The layer forces calculated for belts chute surfaces in Newton is intended to be used for relative
comparison purposes between chute designs and revisions only.

Setting up the Simulation to Record Triangle Forces

To view triangle force data, all of the following must be true:
1. You must have set Save Triangle Force & Work Data to YES in the general simulation
parameters window before running the simulation. If you did not, there will be a red label on
this window stating that triangle work was not saved for this simulation.
2. The layer for which you want to see the forces must have had a surface velocity during the
simulation.
3. In the Force Type panel, either Perpendicular or Parallel must be checked.
4. In the lower half of the SMV window, the Layer Style for at least one layer must be set to Force.
We also recommend that you do the following before running the simulation (if you are analyzing the
forces on a belt, and if that belt is not auto-generated by Newton):
1. Redraw the belt in your CAD program using just three 3D Faces to represent the top face of the
belt (or 5 faces if it is a 5-roll belt). This will ensure that there are no duplicate belt triangles and
that the normal vector for each triangle is calculated properly by Newton.
2. Import the belt into the geometry.
3. Assign the proper velocity to the belt using the Set Velocity Vector button or by manually
entering the X, Y, and Z velocity components.
4. Click the Equalize Triangles button a few times to mesh the belt into small triangles with
average side lengths of ~50-150 mm.
5. Right-click in the rendering window and turn on Triangle Normal Vectors. Ensure that all the
normal vectors point upward and inward, toward the center of gravity of the belt. It is
imperative that the normal vectors all face in the same direction, because the direction of the
force on each triangle (positive vs. negative) depends on this vector.

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The Direction of Parallel Forces

When viewing parallel belt forces, a negative force (i.e. a blue or cyan triangle) indicates that the
particles are exhibiting forces on the belt in a direction opposite of the belt velocity (i.e. this portion of
the belt requires higher power to push the material). A positive force (i.e. a yellow, orange, or red
triangle) indicates that the particles are exhibiting forces on the belt in the same direction as the belt
velocity (i.e. this portion of the belt requires lower power because it is being pushed by the material).

Figure 6.4.8 – Sign convention for parallel forces

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The Direction of Perpendicular Forces

When viewing perpendicular belt forces, the direction of the force (i.e. positive or negative) depends on
the normal vector and velocity vector of each triangle. If you position the camera view so that you are
observing the belt from a top view, with the positive belt velocity pointing toward the top of the screen,
then a negative perpendicular force points to the left, and a positive perpendicular force points to the
right. So a blue or cyan triangle indicates that the material is pushing the belt to the left, and a yellow,
orange, or red triangle indicates that the material is pushing the belt to the right. This assumes that the
normal vector of each triangle on the belt points upward and inward, toward the center of gravity of the
belt, as was discussed above.

Figure 6.4.9 – Sign convention for perpendicular forces

Viewing Triangle Forces in the Playback File

Open an uncompressed .UCM playback file for a simulation that saved triangle force and work data and
open the AVI Creator window and the SMV window.
In the SMV window (shown previously in Figure 5.3.1), check the Force checkbox next to each layer for
which you would like to see work calculations. Once you click Force for a specific layer, the layer should
immediately turn green, and the scale in the top right corner that previously said ‘Material Velocity’
should now say ‘Perpendicular Force’. Next, select the Triangle Forces tab in the middle of the SMV
window; this will bring up more options for analyzing triangle forces. This window is shown in Figure
6.4.10.

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Figure 6.4.10 – SMV Window with Triangle Forces tab open

Force Type: The first panel allows you to select the type of force to show. Both force types cannot be
viewed at the same time.
Use text boxes to set the min, max, and number of scale divisions for the color scale that appears in the
upper right corner of the rendering window. By default, the minimum is automatically set as the
negative of the maximum. Check the checkbox next to the Min text box if you want to manually set the
minimum value.
If these input boxes are set to zero or blank, then Newton will automatically set the will set the
maximum value as the playback progresses to 110% of the maximum current force value and will set the
minimum equal to the opposite of the maximum. With the scales having equal and opposite magnitude,
a triangle with zero net force is colored lime green (the center of the scale). Triangles with a net
negative force are blue or cyan, and triangles with a new positive force are yellow, orange, or red.
Filtering: Because of the transient and chaotic nature of the layer forces, you can set a filter that helps
better visualize them. The exponential filter applies Brown's simple exponential smoothing. Enter the
smoothing factor alpha (0-1) in the text box. Values close to 0 will cause the observed forces to change
more slowly, while values close to 1 will allow for more rapid change. Alternatively, you can select a
moving average filter which will average the values of the forces for each triangle over the selected
number of frames.
Screen Labels: Checking the Show Total Layer Force and/or Show Max Force will display a line of text in
the rendering window. This text will list the total force applied to the entire layer and/or the maximum

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force applied to any single triangle. Note that the total layer force is taken as the sum for all layers that
are currently showing force. Therefore you only want to set one Layer Style to Force at a time.
The position of this line of text can be set in the AVI Creator window (see Section 6.4.1).
Triangle Rendering Mode: This option determines how Newton will render triangle work. If Triangular
is selected, then Newton will add up the force from each particle according to the triangle that it acts
upon. All the force from that particle will be attributed to that triangle.
Each triangle contains 3 vertices; these are the A, B, and C ‘points’ of the triangle. Each vertex is shared
by multiple triangles, so it is called a ‘node’ rather than a vertex. If Nodal is selected, then Newton will
take the force applied to a triangle, and divide that force between the 3 nodes of that triangle. The
force on other triangles attached to the same nodes is also added to those nodes. Nodal rendering
mode is more accurate than Triangular, and we recommend always using Nodal.
Force Summary: This panel contains controls for generating a work summary.
1. Set the Layer Style to Force in the lower section of the SMV window for each layer for which
you want to show triangle forces. It is best to only view one layer at a time.
2. Enter the start and end times for the force summary in the text boxes in the Force Summary
panel.
3. Click the Generate button. Newton will render the triangle forces in the rendering window.
While the force summary is generating, you can change any of the settings in the Force tab of the SMV
window without disturbing the data. This means you can flip back and forth between force types in the
Force Type panel, change the min/max scales, change the filtering options, or the rendering mode. Even
though you can only view one force type at a time, Newton keeps track of both force types throughout
the duration of the force summary.
If, while a force summary is generating, you change a Layer Style to Force, the force summary will stop
and all work data will be reset.
Notes about Forces:
1. Newton calculates force in real-time, as the particles fall onto the triangles.
2. The force data is different from the work data discussed in Section 6.4.5. Whereas work data is a
summation of work over time, the force data is not a summation, so you can skip around to
different parts of the playback file without seeing a warning that alerts you to reset the force
data.
However, if you have filtering enabled, the filter depends on the past history of the forces, so
when you skip around in the file, the filtering will become inaccurate if the force data is not
reset.

Integrating Forces into an Animation File

Integrating force into an animation file is easy. For the key frames that you want to show layer forces,
simply check the Force checkbox next to each layer to show the force. While creating the animation file,
when Newton reaches the key frames where forces are shown, Newton will automatically calculate the
force summary for that time frame and integrate it into the animation file. You just need to ensure that
you’ve selected the desired settings under the Triangle Forces tab of the SMV window for those key
frames.

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Each of the force settings described in this section is saved with each key frame, with the exception of
the inputs in the Force Summary (the force summary is only for quickly generating a summary outside of
an animation). So at different points of an animation, you can show different force types or min/max
scales.
Notes about Forces in an AVI File:
1. When generating forces in an animation, Newton will reset the force data if any of the following
occur:
a. Newton reaches a key frame in which one of the Layer Styles is set to Force and the
previous key frame did not have that Layer Style set to Force.
b. Newton reaches a key frame where all layers are not set to Force.

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6.5 Plotting Window

When viewing an uncompressed playback file, click the Plotting window button on the main toolbar to
open the Plotting window. This window allows you to plot certain results from an uncompressed
playback file (*.ucm).

6.5.1 Plotting Tonnage

The first tab on the Plotting window allows you to calculate tonnages in the simulation at up to 5
different locations. The tab is shown in Figure 6.5.1.

Figure 6.5.1 – Plotting window with Tonnage tab open

To use this feature, you must first set up at least one data box. Like killboxes, data boxes must be
rectangular prisms aligned with the X, Y, and Z axes.
Data Boxes: Up to 5 data boxes can be used simultaneously. Click the radio button below each data
box to specify its bounds. The check box at the bottom of the section allows you to see the data boxes
in the rendering window as you create them. If you right-click anywhere on the tonnage tab, you can
import or export the data boxes so you can quickly share them between playback files.
Time Settings: After you input the data boxes, use the time settings section to designate the window or
time over which to record data. Newton uses a moving average the record the mass of particles in each
data box and divides that by the elapsed time. If the playback file has one frame of data at each 0.01
second of simulation, then averaging the data over 20 points will average the flow rate over 0.20
seconds of simulation. The more data points that are used to create the moving average, the smoother
the tonnage line will be.

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Axis Control: Newton automatically sets the X and Y axes on the chart as the data is plotted, but you
can override the minimum and maximum values for either axis.
Data Labels: In the top right corner of the Plotting window are the data labels corresponding to each
data box. As the data is plotted, the labels list the following three things:
1. Total number of clusters that have entered the data box.
2. Total mass of material that has entered the data box.
3. Instantaneous rate of tonnage flow through the data box.
From top to bottom, the data labels represent data boxes 1 through 5, respectively. The colors on the
plot correspond to the data labels/boxes of the same color.
Saving Data from the Graph: If you right-click on the graph, you can copy the graph image, or you can
copy the data arrays for all 5 data boxes to the Windows clipboard.

6.5.2 Plotting Work

The second tab in the Plotting window allows you to plot triangle work. This tab is shown below in
Figure 6.5.2.

Figure 6.5.2 – Plotting window with the Work tab open

In order to plot triangle work, you must have set Save Triangle Force & Work Data to YES in the general
simulation parameters window before running the simulation. If you did not, the controls on this tab
will be disabled and there will be a red label which states that triangle work was not saved.

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Use the first column of combo boxes to select the layers from which you want to plot the work. Use the
second column of combo boxes to select the work type to plot for each line. To obtain meaningful work
data, the surfaces for which you record wear should be meshed up into small triangles that have an
average side length of 50-200 mm (see Section 4.3.6).
Based on the work type that is shown (Total vs. Instantaneous) and the Work Units that are selected
using the radio button, Newton will plot the following data for each line:
- Total Work (units in Joules): Plots the cumulative work performed on the entire layer over the
specified time interval.
- Total Work (units in Joules/sec): Plots the cumulative work performed on the entire layer
divided by the time elapsed (the average work).
- Instantaneous Work (units in Joules): Plots the discrete work performed on the entire layer for
each playback frame in the specified interval. The sum of these values would equal the
cumulative work performed on the entire layer over the specified interval (i.e. the sum would
equal Total Work, units in Joules).
- Instantaneous Work (Units in Joules/sec): Plots the discrete work performed on the entire layer
for each frame of the playback file divided by the frame time interval (i.e. this is the work that
would be performed if the rate of work for each data frame was constant for 1 entire second).
Saving Data from the Graph: If you right-click on the graph, you can copy the graph image, or you can
copy the data arrays for all 5 lines to the Windows clipboard.

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6.5.3 Plotting Triangle Forces

The third tab on the Plotting window allows you to plot perpendicular and parallel Triangle Forces. This
tab is shown below in figure 6.5.3.

Figure 6.5.3 – Plotting window with the Triangle Forces tab open
In order to plot triangle forces, you must have set Save Triangle Force & Work Data to YES in the
general simulation parameters window before running the simulation. If you did not, the controls on
this tab will be disabled and there will be a red label stating that triangle forces were not saved.
If a layer has a surface velocity, then Newton tracks the forces on the layer in the parallel direction
(aligned with the velocity vector), and in the transverse direction (perpendicular to the velocity vector,
across the triangle).
This feature is particularly useful for analyzing material centering on the receiving belt. If there are
significant transverse forces on the receiving belt layer, this may indicate poor material centering and
possible tracking problems with the belt.
- These forces are ONLY recorded if the layer has a surface velocity.
- This is a new feature since v2.12. So for playback files older than v2.12, Newton did not record
values for the parallel and perpendicular forces on any layer.
Preparing a Layer to Record Triangle Forces
In order to ensure that the forces are recorded properly, we HIGHLY recommend that you redraw the
belt in your CAD program using just three 3D faces to represent the top face of the belt (or five 3D faces
for a 5-roll belt). This will ensure that there are no duplicate belt triangles and that the normal vector for
each triangle is calculated properly by Newton. Often, when 3D solid belt geometries are exported to
another CAD format, the exporting method does a poor job ensuring that the belt is replicated properly

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with correct-facing normal vectors. Then, after importing the belt, you should use the Equalize Triangles
and Divide Triangles buttons on the Geometry page to mesh the belt into small triangles with average
side lengths of ~50-150mm. Next, right-click in the rendering window and turn on Triangle Normal
Vectors. Verify that all the normal vectors on the belt are facing upward and inward, toward the center
of gravity of the belt (see Section 4.3.6).
Viewing Triangle Force Data
For triangles that have a surface velocity, Newton records the average parallel and perpendicular forces
applied to the triangle for each frame of data. The parallel force is the net force due to any contacting
particles acting on the triangle in the direction of the triangle's velocity vector. The perpendicular force
is the net force due to any contacting particles acting on the triangle in a direction perpendicular to the
triangle's velocity vector (i.e. across the belt).
When viewing parallel belt forces, a negative force indicates that the particles are exhibiting forces on
the belt in a direction opposite of the belt velocity. A positive force indicates that the particles are
exhibiting forces on the belt in the same direction as the belt velocity.
When viewing perpendicular belt forces, the direction of the force (i.e. positive or negative) depends on
the normal vector and velocity vector of each triangle. If you position the camera view so that you are
observing the belt from a top view, with the positive belt velocity pointing toward the top of the screen,
then a negative perpendicular force points to the left, and a positive perpendicular force points to the
right. So a negative force indicates that the material is pushing the belt to the left, and a positive force
indicates that the material is pushing the belt to the right. This assumes that the normal vector of each
triangle on the belt points upward and inward, toward the center of gravity of the belt, as was discussed
above.
Use the first column of dropdown boxes to select the layers for which you would like to plot the parallel
or perpendicular forces, and use the second column of dropdown boxes to select the type of force to
plot for the layer.
Saving Data from the Graph: If you right-click on the graph, you can copy the graph image, or you can
copy the data arrays for all 5 lines to the Windows clipboard.

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7 Reference Papers
1
Kruse, D., Lemmon R. (2005), “Using the Discrete Element Method as an Everyday Design Tool”, Bulk
Solids Handling, 6/2005 pg. 358-367

2
David J. Kruse (2000), Applications and Advances of the Discrete Element Method in the Material
Handling Industry, Bulk Material Handling by Conveyor Belts III – 2000 SME Conference

3
Xiangjun Qiu & David J. Kruse (1997), Analysis of Flow of Ore Materials in a Conveyor Transfer Chute
Using the Discrete Element Method, Fourth U.S. National Congress on Computational Mechanics.

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