The "Newton" Simulation Software was developed by the engineer and software development group at AC-Tek. Newton is a general purpose Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulation package used to quickly, and accurately, model the three dimensional behavior of complex material flows. Additionally, a variety of constitutive models have been included to model a wide rage of material properties including wet sticky cohesive material. Material degradation, surface wear, impact damage, energy dissipation, and other fundamental parameters can easily be analyzed.

The software is extremely flexible and has been developed from the ground up using the latest software development tools. We have developed the software to be able to handel a wide variety of materials properties and design geometry. However, as the range of applications for this software are enormous, please contact us about your specific applications. We would be happy to taylor the software to meets your specific needs and requirements.

The following is a list of many of the built in features of Newton Software.

The first step in DEM modeling is the creation of individual particles and/or groups of particles. The most basic DEM particle is a simple sphere. Spheres are often used as they are very computationally efficient. Newton allows for any size, and number of spherical particles. Additionally, spheres can have offset centers of gravity, as well as extra rotational damping properties used to more accurately simulate irregularly shaped real world material.

Far more powerful however, is Newton's ability to "group" spheres together to make irregular groups. In particular 4,6, and 8 sphere groups are used as they have certain computational benefits. Any grouping may be generated using the built in particle generation tool as shown in the images below. An unlimited number of particle shapes may be created, and then "scaled" up or down to meet the actual particle size distribution curves (see below).

A wide range of both standard and irregular particle groups have been built into Newton. In most cases this list will be more than adequate to model most typical material flows. However the ability to general any shape is a feature can that be extremely valuable for many custom applications.

These are the types of features which keep Newton as a leader in the industry.

Once the fundamental particle shapes have been created, the user can quickly and easily generate a particle size distribution curve based on the real material. Various distributions curves are available (Ross & Rambler for example). If only the minimum and maximum particles sizes are known a standard distribution curve can be used.

Any number of particle types and/or groups may be used to created the material distribution curve.

Newton's also has a built in material library. The user can simply select from a drop down list ("ROM coal <100mm" for example). The program will automatically select the proper particles shapes, and sizes.

Newton allows 3D geometry to be directly imported from many industry CAD programs such as an AutoCad DFX file. This allows the user to generate almost any geometry imaginable. Additionally, there are built in geometries such as transfer and receiving belts, which can used in conjunction with an external file.

Boundary surface materials, speeds, rotations, and other properties can be entered on a "per layer" basis.

This truly gives total flexibility to the software.

Once the geometry and particle sets have been entered, the two must be combined together. Newton allows for up to five different materials, and release locations. Additionally, particles may be released in layers, or as a "block".

The image to the left show a specific material set being dropped into a square bin in layers. In this case the ton per hour is specified in the user input.

Newton has been designed to run the simulations as fast as possible. Our software engineers have spent an enormous amount of effort optimizing the code for both speed, and memory limitations.

Both 32 bit and 64 bit solvers are available, as well as, multiprocessor threaded versions.

Simulation times will vary considerable depending on the total number of particles, and total simulation time.

In addition to various playback, and compression features, Newton offers a wide range of post processing capabilities. Fast real time visualization of the material flow is done using the latest graphical rendering techniques. The "Key frame" AVI creator allows smooth real time avi animations to be made in a number of different formats.

Both surface, and material, wear and impact damage may be visualized. This is critical when optimizing a design for the minimum amount of material damage, dust generation, and linear wear.