Extending Air and Ground Superiority Using Discrete Element Analysis

Transparency statement: I currently work as a Defense Director for Altair Engineering and manage the Army Ecosystem (Primes and Direct). My analysis may naturally align with some of Altair's technologies/methods, but these are my opinions. My current role and experiences give me a ground view of implementing commercial technology to advance US Defense objectives. This weekly Newsletter is a practical guide to applying new technology in the Defense industry.

The warfighter on the ground has many fears, but one is particularly visceral: No Close Air Support (CAS):

Red Air! Weathered Out! Non-permissive weather conditions!

As we all know, much of the military overmatch the US enjoys is based on our air superiority. For some reason, we never seem to want to fight in idyllic locations, weather, or environments. (Next time we fight, I say we pick San Diego as the location). In lue of that, we will need to adapt . . . One way would be to optimize our military vehicles' design to overcome particulate build-up challenges.

The Problem: Particulate Fouling and Its Impact on Platform Longevity

In the industry, we know that particulate fouling is a persistent challenge across aerospace, defense, and industrial platforms; whether it's dust ingestion in aircraft engines, vehicle mobility, sand fouling and platform erosion, or debris accumulation in industrial systems, particulate fouling leads to performance degradation, increased maintenance cycles, and, ultimately, reduced platform lifespan.

For defense applications, the stakes are even higher. Equipment operating in harsh environments—from the desert to maritime theaters—must withstand extreme particulate exposure without compromising mission readiness. Unchecked particulate accumulation can lead to efficiency losses, overheating, and premature component failure, driving up sustainment costs and reducing operational availability.

Traditional methods of addressing particulate fouling—such as physical testing and reactive maintenance—are costly, time-consuming, and often inadequate for predicting long-term effects. A proactive, simulation-driven approach is required to mitigate these issues and enhance system resilience.

The Challenges of Particulate Interaction

Not all particulates behave the same way. The impact of dust, sand, and debris on a system depends on variables such as particle size, shape, velocity, material composition, and environmental conditions. Understanding these interactions at a granular level is critical for:

• Optimizing filter designs to reduce clogging and improve airflow.
• Predicting erosion patterns on critical components to extend service life.
• Enhancing system layouts to minimize contamination risks.
• Developing self-cleaning or more resilient materials to withstand harsh conditions.

Legacy design processes often fail to account for the dynamic nature of particulate behavior, leading to inefficient mitigation strategies and unanticipated maintenance costs. To make data-driven design decisions, engineers need access to advanced simulation tools that can accurately model real-world particulate interactions.

Discrete Element Analysis for Advanced Particulate Simulation

Using cutting-edge Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulation solution designed to model and analyze particulate behavior in complex environments. Using DEM, engineers can:

• Predict particulate movement within systems to identify high-risk areas for fouling and erosion.
• Optimize filtration and airflow designs by simulating particle interactions in real time.
• Assess wear and tear on components to develop proactive maintenance strategies.
• Improve system resilience by testing different materials and coatings under realistic conditions.
• Reduce reliance on physical prototypes, cutting down design iteration costs and accelerating development cycles.

If you are feeling particularly ambitious, there are several CAE technologies you can combine with the DEM method, such as using a?multi-physics simulation ecosystem. This?enables engineers to?couple DEM with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA). This?multi-domain approach?ensures that particulate mitigation strategies are not only effective but also optimized within broader system constraints.

ONE STEP FURTHER: Enhancing Design with DOE and Optimization

You can combine DEM with Design of Experiments (DOE) and advanced optimization techniques to further refine and enhance system performance. By leveraging these tools, engineers can:

• Run parametric studies to evaluate how different design variables impact particulate behavior.
• Identify optimal design configurations that minimize fouling and maximize efficiency.
• Automate design iterations to quickly converge on the best-performing solutions.
• Improve decision-making by integrating AI-driven optimization within the simulation workflow.

With DOE and optimization, teams can explore thousands of potential design variations, ensuring that every component is built for maximum durability and performance. This holistic approach provides a systematic method to reduce costs, increase reliability, and extend platform life.

Conclusion

Proactively exploiting existing high-level analysis and studying the particulate impact on platform design can extend the combat life of platforms, optimize ground mobility, extend CAS flight windows, and fundamentally understand the effects of design modifications.

In particular, ground mobility studies using advanced DEM methods and multi-body dynamics can reduce design time, mobility, and lethality. A later article will cover this topic.

Altair's EDEM

EDEM, below, is a high-performance software used to analyze cases such as rovers working on Mars, where a failure can be unrecoverable and mean years of work and tons of money wasted. One of the very best people I get to work with is David Boush , he is THE DEM expert. I am happy to coordinate a sync on methods to deploy based on your use case.

Other Applications: ground platform mobility, air separation, battery?manufacture, high fidelity roadwheel analysis . . .

Altair's Hyperstudy - DOE Method

Giri Prasanna is the current Technical Account Manager for Altair Defense and has over two decades of applying DOE to Defense applications to optimize and explore variations in design efficiently.

I am happy to discuss any of the topics within this article.

For a deeper look at how strategic software technology can optimize government spending across the country, check out our previous article, "New Technology—Advancing Defense: Optimizing Your Software Spend."

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