# Problem definition A rotating drum is randomly filled with two particle sizes and rotated to observe particle segregation. The focus of this tutorial is to show how to use the preprocessing tool `particlesPhasicFlow` to create the initial mixture of small and large particles. **Note:** It is supposed that you have reviewed [simulating a rotating drum](https://github.com/PhasicFlow/phasicFlow/wiki/Simulating-a-rotating-drum) tutorial before starting this tutorial.
a view of the rotating drum with small and large particles after 7 seconds of rotation
*** # Case setup In the file `caseSetup/shapes` two particle types with the names `smallSphere` and `largeSphere` and the diameters 3 and 5 mm are defined. [Simulation case setup files can be found in tutorials/sphereGranFlow folder.](https://github.com/PhasicFlow/phasicFlow/tree/main/tutorials/sphereGranFlow/binarySystemOfParticles) ### Shape definition In the file `caseSetup/shapes` two particle types with the names `smallSphere` and `largeSphere` and the diameters 3 and 5 mm are defined.
in caseSetup/sphereShape file
```C++ names (smallSphere largeSphere); // names of shapes diameters (0.003 0.005); // diameter of shapes (m) materials (prop1 prop1); // material names for shapes ``` ### Positioning and initial mixture In the dictionary `positionParticles` located in file `settings/particlesDict`, 30000 particles are located in a cylindrical region. These particles are positioned in order along `z`, `x` and then `y` axis with 0.005 m distance between their centers.
in settings/particlesDict file
```C++ // positions particles positionParticles { method ordered; // other options: random or empty orderedInfo { diameter 0.005; // minimum space between centers of particles numPoints 30000; // number of particles in the simulation axisOrder (z x y); // axis order for filling the space with particles } regionType cylinder; // other options: box and sphere cylinder // cylinder region for positioning particles { p1 (0.0 0.0 0.003); // begin point of cylinder axis (m m m) p2 (0.0 0.0 0.097); // end point of cylinder axis (m m m) radius 0.117; // radius of cylinder (m) } } ``` In the `setFields` dictionary, located in the `settings/particlesDict` file, you define the initial `velocity`, `acceleration`, `rotVelocity` and `shapeName` fields for all 30000 particles in the simulation. In the `selectors' dictionary, you can select subsets of particles and set the field value for those subsets. The `selectRange` selector is defined in the `shapeAssigne` subdictionary. It defines a range with `begin`, `end` and `stride` to select particles. And in the `fieldValue` subdictionary the field values for selected particles are set (any number of field values can be set here). **Note:** Other selectors are: `selectBox` that selects particles inside a box and `randomSelect` that selects particles randomly from a given index range.
in settings/particlesDict file
```C++ setFields { /* Default value for fields defined for particles These fields should always be defined for simulations with spherical particles. */ defaultValue { velocity realx3 (0 0 0); // linear velocity (m/s) acceleration realx3 (0 0 0); // linear acceleration (m/s2) rotVelocity realx3 (0 0 0); // rotational velocity (rad/s) shapeName word smallSphere; // name of the particle shape } selectors { shapeAssigne { selector stridedRange; // other options: box, cylinder, sphere, randomPoints stridedRangeInfo { begin 0; // begin index of points end 30000; // end index of points stride 3; // stride for selector } fieldValue // fields that the selector is applied to { /* sets shapeName of the selected points to largeSphere */ shapeName word largeSphere; } } } ``` # Running the simulation Enter the following command in terminal: `> geometryPhasicFlow` `> particlesPhasicFlow` `> sphereGranFlow` ### Note on using particlesPhasicFlow Each executable in PhasicFlow comes with some command line options that you can see them by using flag `-h` in front of that command. `> particlesPhasicFlow -h` prints out the following output: ``` Usage: particlesPhasicFlow [OPTIONS] Options: -h,--help Help for using createParticles of phasicFlow v-1.0 -v,--version Program version information --discription What does this app do? --positionParticles-only Exectue the positionParticles part only and store the created pointStructure in the time folder. --setFields-only Exectue the setFields part only. Read the pointStructure from time folder and setFields and save the result in the same time folder. ``` so, with flag `--setFields-only`, you can execute the `setFields` part of `particlesDict`. Now suppose that you have a simulation case which proceeded up to 2 seconds and for any reason you want to change some field value at time 3 s and continue the simulation from 3 s. To this end, you need to change `startTime` in settings dictionary to 3, execute `particlesPhasicFlow --setFields-only`, and start the simulation.