Coupling a DEM material model to multibody construction equipment

Particle simulation with the Discrete Element Method (DEM) is well-established and widely used in soil dynamics related applications. The wide range of applications can be envisaged, for instance, in automotive engineering, material handling and manufacturing. In recent years, the Fraunhofer ITWM has developed and implemented its own DEM code entitled "GRAnular Physics Engine (GRAPE)" which is currently specialized for granular materials. In this paper, we present the technical realization of GRAPE's communication interface in the construction equipment development context that has been evolved during a project collaboration between the Fraunhofer ITWM and Volvo CE. Moreover, we address numerical studies with a focus on GRAPE internal parameters and co-simulation settings by applying the interface to couple a multibody wheel loader model and a multibody hauler model, respectively.