8.4. 2-way coupling limitations

By employing Fluent as described in section Two-way coupling algorithm to simulate the transient state of the CFD domain as it is affected by the solid phase, the two-way coupling overcomes the limitations of the one-way coupling mentioned in section 1-way coupling limitations at the expense of being more computationally demanding.

The following limitations apply to the current version of the two-way DEM-CFD coupling module between Ansys Fluent and Rocky:


Note:  Unless otherwise specified, these limitations apply to both multiphase and single phase coupling approaches.


  • Only 3D, unsteady and double precision Fluent cases are supported.

  • Fixed-time steps must be used (no time step adaptation).

  • Meshes with polyhedral cells around shadow boundaries are not supported.

  • Fluent is not allowed to use GPUs.

  • Eulerian Wall Film model is not supported.

  • Dense Discrete Phase Model (DDPM) is not supported.

  • Boiling model is not supported.

  • Evaporation/Condensation model is not supported.

  • Multi-Fluid VOF model is not supported.

  • (Single phase only) Porous zones as participating domains are not supported.

  • (Multiphase only) Both the Volume Fraction and Backflow Volume Fraction of the dispersed phase handling the particulate phase must be set to 0 at all boundaries.

  • (Multiphase only) Pressure-Velocity Coupling Scheme must be set to Phase Coupled SIMPLE.

  • Fixed values in variables for cell zones are not supported.

  • All Rocky particle sets are be combined to form a single equivalent Eulerian phase in Fluent.

  • Turbulence dispersion model is only valid for k-epsilon, k-omega and RSM viscous models.

  • Remeshing is not compatible with sub-stepping method.

  • Fluent beta features are not allowed.