[deprecated list] Some Questions about YADE!

[Bruno Chareyre]

Hello, it is always nice to see people considering using Yade.
Please send your questions to Yade mailing list instead of private
emails to me, so the best person (depending on the question) will give
answers.

- My first question: dose it includes a facility to make it possible to consider the
aggregate shapes? For instance such that is provided by some softwares like PFC. As
you know there are two main options entitled Clumping and Clustering which make it
possible to combine a number of particles to make a simulation of the aggregates real
shape.

Yes, clumps have been implemented in Yade to simulate agregates of spheres.

- Is yade capable to employ a digital processed image as an input to generate the
model (at least in the 2D mode) instead of the random generated assembly?

Nothing for 2D (how can you generate a 3D model on the basis of 2D
images?!). However Janek Kozicki developped tools to turn the results of
3D tomography into Yade samples.

- Is there any previous experiences on employing YADE to investigate asphalt concrete
mixtures.

None that I know of.

- As I found the code was developed under the Python programming language. Is that the
programming language to be used for the purpose of the code modification?

Yade is coded in c++, Python is used for the command line interface.
You need to code in c++ if you want to develop new features, otherwise
python can be enough to create and run simulations.

- and my last question: is it available to conduct a parallel processing on a network
to decrease the computation time?

We are working on it, but I don't think it is fully functional yet.

Thank you in advance for your magnificent cooperations.

"Magnificient" is a minimum here. ;-)

Bruno Chareyre
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[Václav S(milauer]

-

Post by Bruno Chareyre
Yes, clumps have been implemented in Yade to simulate agregates of spheres.

With a few caveats, though: they are nut supported by NewtonsDampedLaw
and they are not wrapped from python. I can do the latter if it is
needed, it is quite simple. The former would however require a consent
on the order of clump/clumped bodies in BodyContainer

Post by Bruno Chareyre

- and my last question: is it available to conduct a parallel
processing on a network to decrease the computation time?

We are working on it, but I don't think it is fully functional yet.

Hmm, by accident I was just composing a call for developers on that few
days ago. Let me post it here, then:

Yade is not able to run parallel computation, even though all papers
mention that DEM, as an explicit method, parallelizes very well. While
processors have more cores, but the speed doesn't increase much,
supporting computation on multiple cores is becoming critical. We have
quad-cores now, there will be 6/8 cores in a year or so, Intel is
working on 96-core Larrabee platform, there is new standard (finally)
OpenCL for running computations on graphics cards that have easily over
500 stream processors, there are Cell processors with 6 (32 in the
future) vector computation units. Yade is going to lose the game if this
trend is not caught up with.

A decent implementation of parallelism in Yade is an effort adequate for
a PhD. Up to now, there has only been isolated efforts (lock-free
containers, ParallelEngine), but only as as part-time jobs to scratch an
itch; someone devoted to this for a few years is needed. I think it is
maybe 30% physics, the rest being quite low-level (and interesting)
software engineering effort.

If you (anyone) are in position to take PhD students, please consider
this as something of big importance for Yade future. I believe I am
speaking for other developers here.

Vaclav

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