Simplifying Bulk Material Handling During Monsoon with Ansys Rocky

Debrup Chakraborty
3:30 MINS
July 28, 2025

Monsoon season is a critical period for industries relying on bulk material handling (BMH) equipment. Ansys Rocky enables O&M teams to optimize bulk material handling even during the challenging monsoon season. Increased moisture, stickiness, and cohesion in materials can disrupt entire operations, causing delays, equipment failure, and safety hazards. Fortunately, with advanced Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulation tools like Ansys Rocky, operation and maintenance (O&M) teams can mitigate these challenges with precision and confidence.

Common Challenges in Bulk Material Handling Equipment During Monsoon

Handling bulk materials like iron ore or high-silica content minerals is already a demanding task. But during the monsoon, these tasks become significantly more complicated due to excess moisture and environmental conditions.

For materials with high silica content, which are naturally cohesive and adhesive, rain exacerbates their flow behaviour. This makes it more difficult for plants to achieve their tonnage-per-day (TPD) targets. Smaller lump sizes and fine particles, especially in materials like iron ore, increase the likelihood of blockages and poor flow characteristics during handling.

One of the most recurring issues faced by plant engineers is the choking of transition points—especially transfer chutes. These points often become bottlenecks, leading to unplanned downtime and material spillage on operation floors. Consequently, O&M teams shift focus from preventive maintenance and optimization to crisis management, impacting both safety and productivity.

Traditional Makeshift Solutions: Are They Effective?

To address these monsoon-induced challenges, many plants across India still rely on stopgap measures that offer temporary relief but often lack long-term effectiveness.

Transfer Chutes

The most common workaround is manual intervention—poking the material using iron rods or deploying air blasters. However, air blasters themselves require constant upkeep, and manual poking poses safety risks. In many cases, the only viable solution becomes a shutdown for cleaning, which halts production and increases operational costs.

Conveyor Belts

Rolling components such as idlers and rollers accumulate sticky material, causing belt sway and spillage. The equipment often demands continuous manual cleaning, requiring a dedicated team to ensure operational continuity. Despite all these efforts, performance inevitably dips during the rainy months.

The interdependency of equipment further complicates matters. If the transfer chute or conveyor malfunctions, downstream equipment suffers too—causing the entire production line to operate below capacity or shut down entirely.

How Ansys Rocky Streamlines O&M During Monsoon

Instead of relying on reactive, labour-intensive solutions, industries are now embracing simulation tools like Ansys Rocky to proactively prepare for monsoon challenges. Rocky’s advanced DEM capabilities provide unmatched insight into material behaviour under varying environmental conditions, including high moisture.

Here’s how Ansys Rocky stands out:

1. Simulate High-Moisture Conditions with Accuracy:

Rocky allows O&M teams to virtually model equipment behaviour under rainy-season conditions. This includes high humidity, water-laden particles, and altered flow dynamics. Engineers can plan ahead for potential blockages and performance dips.

2. Design Optimization and Throughput Planning:

By simulating different operational parameters, Rocky enables design tweaks and throughput adjustments that significantly reduce the risk of choke points and spillage. Plants can fine-tune systems to function smoothly during monsoon months, rather than pausing production or relying on parallel circuits.

3. Accurate Simulation of Fine Particles:

Iron ore granules, including particles as fine as 10 microns, can be modelled using Rocky’s Coarse Graining Model (CGM). This allows engineers to understand and plan for the unique behaviour of ultra-fine materials, which often create the worst flow problems during monsoon.

4. Water-Based Process Simulation with SPH:

Ansys Rocky is the only DEM tool that offers Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), enabling simulation of water-based processes such as slurry handling and sticky material flow. This is a game-changer for industries dealing with moisture-sensitive materials.

5. Custom Calibration for Real-World Accuracy:

Rocky can be calibrated with real site data to match actual process behaviour down to minute details. This ensures simulations are highly accurate and reliable for real-world planning, reducing guesswork and maximizing ROI.

Why Ansys Rocky is a Must-Have for Monsoon Preparedness

Simulation is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity, especially when facing predictable seasonal challenges like the Indian monsoon. By integrating Ansys Rocky into their operational workflows, plants can:

Improve equipment lifespan by reducing unnecessary wear and tear
Reduce manual intervention and improve workplace safety
Avoid costly shutdowns caused by spillage or blockages
Maintain optimal throughput even in high-moisture conditions
Plan with precision using real-world data and validated models

Conclusion: Future-Ready Maintenance with Rocky

For industries relying on bulk material handling, the rainy season need not be synonymous with downtime and disruption. Ansys Rocky empowers engineers to simulate, analyse, and solve O&M challenges before they arise. Whether it’s sticky iron ore, fine silica particles, or wet conveyor belts—Rocky helps teams stay ahead of the storm.