NetDEM - Neural Network Enabled Discret Element Method

Install blender, which can be obtained from https://www.blender.org.
Install VTK inside the blender python environment.

Hint: to add vtk support in blender, please visit https://github.com/simboden/BVtkNodes/blob/master/build_vtk.md.
Install BVtkNodes add-on, which can be obtained from https://github.com/tkeskita/BVtkNodes. Thanks Silvano Imboden (s.imboden@cineca.it), Lorenzo Celli, and Paul Mc Manus for the original work, and Tuomo Keskitalo for functionality extending and maintaining.

Hint: to install add-on in blender: go to Edit → Preferences → add-on, and install the add-on by selecting the zip file downloaded from the github main/master branch.

Switch to the BVTK Node Tree editor, and new a node tree similar to the following figure.

blender_enditor_layout

node_example

Switch back to the 3D Viewport editor, and you should get a scene as following.

render_example

Play with the VTK filters and blender feature to polish the scene (color represents the stress). Below is an animation of membrane pulling and twisting, where the result data is simulated and created in NetDEM.

Hints:

Shortkeys: ctrl+alt+NumPad 0 to set the camera to current view; G to translate the selected object; x to delete the selected object; ctrl or shift + mouse operalaitons to pan, zoom-in and zoom-out the view.
Rendering settings: suggest to use cycles engine, with the Max Samples set to 10.
For rendering animaiton: the Time Selector filter will change the file name according to the index of frame. At current stage, the file names should indexed with sequential numbers, i.e., xx_000.vtk, xx_001.vtk, xx_999.vtk, etc. One can play with the vtk filters for possible entension.