Penetration in 3D printed particle bed - Validation

Validation Lead(s) Hrachya Kocharyan @Hrachya Kocharyan Hao Shi @Hao Shi
Confirmed collaborator(s) Please feel free to join and add your code name to the table below. This validation case is straightforward to be simulated in any code.
DEM Code name		Responsible person:
EDEM		@Hao Shi
Mercury		@Thomas Weinhart
YADE		@Karol Brzeziński @Danny van der Haven
BlazeDEM		@Nicolin Govender
Yannick’s code (polyhedra only)		@Yannick Descantes
Ansys RockyDEM & LIGGGHTS (sphere only)		@Manuel Moncada
Benchmark Type	Benchmark Verification Validation Challenge
Target Result (e.g. How close to an analytical solution?)	Perform DEM simulations on plate penetration in a predefined particle packing. Calibrate and validate the DEM simulation using experimental results obtained with 3D printed particles. Two target outputs are expected: (a) Calibrated contact model parameters (Hertz Mindlin no-slip with TypeC rolling, p-p and p-g refer to particle-particle & particle-geometry): Coefficient of sliding friction: p-p & p-g Coefficient of rolling friction: p-p & p-g The other parameters are fixed and given in the Table Material properties at the bottom of the page. (b) Simulated resistance (force in x, y & z directions) over depth on: Total penetration resistance on the geometry Tip resistance Sleeve/shaft resistance
Validation Case Description Granular coarse materials such as gravel, grains and minerals are common in geotechnical, mining and bulk handling applications. A common method to investigate the penetration resistance in soils/sand-bed is the Cone Penetration Test (CPT). For coarse granular materials, plate penetration is more appropriate to represent the penetrations happening in the real bulk material handling processes, e.g., excavation or grabbing. As an extension of the benchmark case represented in parallel, this validation case will utilise the experimental results obtained from plate penetration in 3D printed particles that have controlled shape, size and properties, e.g., spheres as shown in the Figure below. At the start of the simulation, the container was filled with 1000 sphere particles (detailed properties given at the bottom of the page) with a diameter of 15 mm. The packing is then relaxed under gravity to reach a fully settled state with kinetic energy in the system smaller than 1e-5 J. The plate penetrates vertically downwards in the negative z-direction with a constant velocity of 20 mm/s. The total penetration time is 10 seconds, resulting in a final penetration depth of 200mm, which is around half of the height of the packing. The forces acting on the plate geometries during the whole penetration process are recorded with a sampling interval (saving count) every 0.05 seconds (1 mm depth).
Validation Geometry and Boundary Conditions As shown in the Figure above, the setup consists of a cubic box with an open top to hold the granular packing and a steel plate that consists of top/bottom walls and side walls. The initial granular packing will be generated by randomly dropping the particles into the cubic box until reaching the target number of particles.
File name	Description	Location/link
Penetration_experiments_spheres.data	Data file contains experimental results: time [s], depth [m], mean_force [N], STD_force [N] (each has one column)	TBA
domain_box.stl	Cubic domain box to hold all the particles.	TBA
plate_top_bottom_walls.stl	Top and bottom walls for the plate geometry	TBA
plate_side_walls.stl	Side walls for the plate geometry	TBA
Image(s) Actual experimental setup will be added here.
Additional notes: Participants should choose either sphere or tetrahedron to continue this validation case. The calibration procedure needs to be documented so it is clear how those validated parameters were obtained.
Particle Type Select all applicable	Spheres [x] Sphere clumps Ellipsoidal Super-quadrics Level-set Potential surfaces Polygonal Polyhedra [x] Sphero-polyhedra Other (specify):
Mixture Type Select all applicable	Monodisperse [x] Bidisperse Polydisperse Uniformly graded Other (specify):
Material properties - PLA and steel Provide particle density/densities, Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio (where appropriate), as well as properties that are required to define particle shape (i.e. radii, longest/shortest axis, sphere separation distance for clumps, etc.). Add/remove rows if required.
Material description	Sphere / Tetrahedron	Steel
Median particle diameter d50	15 [mm]/??[mm]	-
PSD	monodisperse	-
Density	400 [kg/m3]	7500 [kg/m3]
Young’s Modulus	0.05 [GPa]	210 [GPa]
Poisson’s ratio	0.2	0.2
Coefficient of restitution	0.5 (particle-particle)	0.4 (particle-geometry)
Coefficient of sliding friction	calibrated (p-p)	calibrated (p-g)
Coefficient of rolling friction	calibrated (p-p)	calibrated (p-g)

Below are suggested contact models, paticipants have full freedom to use whatever contact model is available or more suitable. Contact model(s) for sphere (or specify which contact model used) Normal and tangential direction: Hertz-Mindlin model Rolling/spinning direction: Type C rolling friction ON-DEM Contact Model Database Reference: Contact model(s) for tetrahedron (or specify which contact model used): Normal and tangential direction: Hertz-Mindlin Nassauer-Kuna Model (contact volume based) Rolling/spinning direction: Spinning Friction Model ON-DEM Contact Model Database Reference:




Simulation setup Parameters for simulation and analysis. Add rows if required (e.g. number of cycles, unbalanced force ratio, etc.)
Time-step	1e-6 [s]
Simulation time	10 [s]
Data output interval	0.05 [s]
Number of particles	1000
Plate penetration velocity	20 [mm/s]
Initial configuration See setup description above.
Output data format The output files should be simple ASCII format with each quantity occupies one column, as the example shown below
Other considerations and notes Please use this space to provide any additional information and/or data not covered in the previous sections of the template
Tentative schedule
Expression of interest by:	Feb 28, 2026
Start date (data received from):	May 1, 2026 will be updated based on the experimental progress
Submission deadline for data:	Aug 31, 2026
Data analysis to be completed by:	Oct 31, 2026
Tentative publication date for draft submission	Oct 31, 2026