"LIGGGHTS WWW Site"_lws - "LIGGGHTS Documentation"_ld - "LIGGGHTS Commands"_lc :c

:link(lws,http://www.cfdem.com)
:link(ld,Manual.html)
:link(lc,Section_commands.html#comm)

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fix insert/pack command :h3

[Syntax:]

fix ID group-ID insert/pack   seed seed_value distributiontemplate dist-ID general_keywords general_values pack_keywords pack_values ... :pre

ID, group-ID are documented in "fix"_fix.html command :ulb,l
insert/pack = style names of this fix command :l
seed = obligatory keyword :l
seed_value = random # seed (positive integer) :l
distributiontemplate = obligatory keyword :l
dist-ID = ID of a "fix_particledistribution_discrete"_fix_particledistribution_discrete.html to be used for particle insertion :l
one or more general keyword/value pairs can be appended :l
general_keywords = {maxattampt} or {insert_every} or {overlapcheck} or {all_in} or {vel} or {omega} :l
  {maxattempt} value = ma
    ma = max # of insertion attempts per atom (positive integer)
  {insert_every} value = once or ie
    once = value to signalise that isertion takes place only once (the step after the fix is issued)
    ie = every how many time-steps particles are inserted - insertion happens periodically (positive integer)
  {start} value = ts
    ts = time-step at which insertion should start (positive integer larger than current time-step)
  {overlapcheck} value = yes or no
  {all_in} value = yes or no
  {vel} values = vx vy vz
    vx = x-velocity at insertion (velocity units)
    vy = y-velocity at insertion (velocity units)
    vz = z-velocity at insertion (velocity units)
  {omega} values = omegax omegay omegaz
    omegax = x-comonent of angular velocity (1/time units)
    omegay = y-comonent of angular velocity (1/time units)
    omegaz = z-comonent of angular velocity (1/time units) :pre

following the general keyword/value section, one or more pack keyword/value pairs can be appended for the fix insert/pack command :l
pack_keywords = {region} or {volumefraction_region} or {particles_in_region} or {mass_in_region} or {ntry_mc} :l
pack_keywords = where exactly one out of {volumefraction_region} or {particles_in_region} or {mass_in_region} has to be defined:l
  {region} value = region-ID
    region-ID = ID of the region where the particles will be generated (positive integer)
  {volumefraction_region} values = vol
    vol =  desired volume fraction for the region (positive float, 0 < vol < 1)
  {particles_in_region} values = np
    np =  desired number of particles in the region (positive integer)
  {mass_in_region} values = m
    m =  desired mass in the region (positive float, m > 0)
  {ntry_mc} values = n
    n = number of Monte-Carlo steps for calculating the region's volume  (positive integer) :pre
:ule

[Examples:]

fix ins all insert/pack seed 1001 distributiontemplate pdd1 insert_every once overlapcheck yes volumefraction_region 0.3 region mysphere ntry_mc 10000 :pre

[Description:]

Insert particles into a granular run either once or every few timesteps 
within the specified region, as defined via the {region} keyword.

This command must use the distributiontemplate keyword to refer to a 
"fix_particledistribution_discrete"_fix_particledistribution_discrete.html (defined by dist-fix-ID) that defines the properties of the 
inserted particles.

At each insertion step, fix insert/pack tries inserts as many particles as
needed to reach a defined target, which can be either a region volume 
fraction (keyword {volumefraction_region}), the total number of particles
in the region (keyword {particles_in_region}), or the total particle mass
in the region (keyword {mass_in_region}). Exactly one out of the keywords 
{volumefraction_region}, {particles_in_region}, {mass_in_region} must 
be defined.

The frequency of the particle insertion can be controlled by the 
keyword {insert_every}, which defines  the number of time-steps between 
two insertions. Alternatively, by specifying {insert_every once}, 
particles are inserted only once. 

The {start} keyword can be used to set the time-step at which the insertion 
should start.

Inserted particles are assigned the atom type specified by the 
particledistribution defined via the "fix_particledistribution_discrete"_fix_particledistribution_discrete.html and
are assigned to 4 groups: the default group "all" and the group
specified in the fix insert command, as well as the groups specified 
in the "fix_particledistribution_discrete"_fix_particledistribution_discrete.html and "fix_particletemplate_sphere"_fix_particletemplate_sphere.html
command (all of which can also be "all").

The keyword {overlapcheck} controls if overlap is checked for at insertion,
both within the inserted particle package and with other existig particles. 
If this option is turned off, insertion will scale very well in parallel, 
otherwise not. Be aware that in case of no overlap check, highly overlapping
configurations will be produced, so you will have to relax these configurations.

If overlapcheck if performed, the number of insertion attempts per 
particle can be specified via the {maxattempt} keyword. Each timestep 
particles are inserted, the command will make up to a total of M tries 
to insert the new particles without overlaps, where 
M = # of inserted particles * ma.  If unsuccessful at completing all 
insertions, a warning will be printed.

The {all_in} flag determines if the particle is completely contained 
in the insertion region ({all_in yes}) or only the particle center 
({all_in no}). Currently {all_in yes} is not yet supported for all
types of insertion.

The initial velocity and rotational velocity can be controlled via the
{vel} and {omega} keywords.

[Description for fix insert/pack:]

This command must use the {region} keyword to define an insertion
volume. The specified region must have been previously defined with a
"region"_region.html command. Dynamic regions are not supported as insertion region.
Each timestep particles are inserted, they are placed randomly inside the 
insertion volume. 

The {volumefraction} option specifies what volume fraction of the insertion
volume will be filled with particles. The higher the value, the more
particles are inserted each timestep. Since inserted particles should not
overlap, the maximum volume fraction should be no higher than about 0.6. 

To determine the volume of the insertion region, a Monte Carlo approach
might be used for some cases where the volume is difficult to calculate
or where the volume calculation is simply not implemented by the region.
The {ntry_mc} keyword is used to control the number of MC tries that
are used for the volume calculation.

[Restart, fix_modify, output, run start/stop, minimize info:]

Information about this fix is written to "binary restart
files"_restart.html.  This means you can restart a simulation simulation
while inserting particles, when the restart file was written during the
insertion operation. 

None of the "fix_modify"_fix_modify.html options are relevant to this
fix.  No global scalar or vector or per-atom quantities are stored by
this fix for access by various "output
commands"_Section_howto.html#4_15.  No parameter of this fix can be
used with the {start/stop} keywords of the "run"_run.html command.
This fix is not invoked during "energy minimization"_minimize.html.

[Restrictions:]

The {overlapcheck} = 'yes' option performs an inherently serial operation
and will thus not scale well in parallel. For this reason, if you
want to generate large systems, you are advised to turn {overlapcheck} 
off and let the packing relax afterwards to generate a valid packing.

Keywords {duration} and {extrude_length} can not be used together.

Currently {all_in yes} is not yet supported for all types of insertion.

Dynamic regions are not supported as insertion region.

[Related commands:]

"fix_insert_stream"_fix_insert_stream.html, "fix_insert_rate_region"_fix_insert_rate_region.html,
"fix_deposit"_fix_deposit.html, "region"_region.html, 
"fix_pour_dev"_fix_pour_dev.html, "fix_pour"_fix_pour.html

[Default:]

The defaults are maxattempt = 50, all_in = no, overlapcheck = yes
vel = 0.0 0.0 0.0, omega = 0.0 0.0 0.0, start = next time-step,
duration = insert_every,  ntry_mc = 100000

