Articles | Volume 19, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-9519-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Pysammos 1.0.0: a discrete-to-continuum transformation Python tool to analyse the rheology of granular materials
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- Final revised paper (published on 08 Oct 2026)
- Supplement to the final revised paper
- Preprint (discussion started on 05 Jun 2026)
- Supplement to the preprint
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Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor
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RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2026-2591', Alexandre Sac-Morane, 15 Jun 2026
- AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Claudia Elijas-Parra, 11 Sep 2026
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RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2026-2591', Francois Guillard, 13 Aug 2026
- AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Claudia Elijas-Parra, 11 Sep 2026
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AR – Author's response | RR – Referee report | ED – Editor decision | EF – Editorial file upload
AR by Claudia Elijas-Parra on behalf of the Authors (11 Sep 2026)
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ED: Publish as is (15 Sep 2026) by Thomas Poulet
AR by Claudia Elijas-Parra on behalf of the Authors (25 Sep 2026)
This contribution presents Pysammos, a software that can be used to post-process the results of any Discrete Element Modelizations (DEM). Indeed, the discrete particle data obtained with the DEM can be transformed into continuous fields, more accessible for visualization purposes and deeper analysis. The architecture, the abilities, the validity, and the performances of Pysammos are depicted in this paper. This method appears user-friendly, computationally efficient, and flexible to the DEM software used.
The article is well written and well structured.
Even if I am positive about this article, I have a few queries to consider during this minor revision.
L. 55: I would change “force displacement law” to “contact law”.
L. 116: There is no verb in “Similarly, to enhance DEM analysis by extracting continuum fields without the need to handle inner-level source code”. Could you reformulate this sentence to ease the reading?
L. 149: I would not refer to Eq. 9 solely, as you use multiple functions for the coarse-graining function \Psi. Is a reference to Section 3.4.3 more accurate?
Eq. 5: Could you check this Equation? In the current version, an individual contact is computed twice. I guess that the second sum should start at j=i+1, in agreement with the formulation depicted in Weinhart et al. (2012).
L. 170: It appears in L. 385 that you made a different choice than other D2C software (MercuryDPM, for instance) for the particle search (particle vs contact point). A justification of this assumption can be relevant here.
L. 264: I would start with the Section “Data reading and handling” as the format of the input data is described. Please consider reorganizing your Sections.
Figure 6: Could you check this plot? Indeed, the Heavyside function does not verify the formulation detailed in Eq. 11. The function should be =0 for w<r, while the plot shows a non-null value for w<r<2w. This verification should be conducted for the Lucy and Gaussian functions.
Figure 6: I guess that W(r) should be Psi(r). If not, could you specify the definition of W(r)?
Figure B2: Same remark as Figure 6: I guess that W(r) should be Psi(r). If not, could you specify the definition of W(r)?
L. 529: This depth-independence of the vertical pressure is controversial. I agree with the Authors that Fig. 13 does not show a clear increase in the pressure. However, the relation P=rho.g.h is well established in the literature. I guess this relation is retrieved for the configuration depicted if a larger height h or a larger density rho is considered. Could you add limitations to the conclusion raised concerning the homogeneous vertical pressure with depth?
Figure 12: Could you consider modifying the scale used for the right map? The color assigned to the value -6.6 does not seem to be employed in the map. The range used for the scale can be shorter.
L. 574: As discussed with Section 4.4.3, the default value of w (=0.75*d_43) may not be the accurate choice to make. Maybe a default value of w that depends on the mean distance of the particles is a more resilient selection. In particular, if this code is used by a standard user (see the definition of the profile in Section 3.1.3). This remark is more a hint to the Authors, the text of the article does not have to be changed. I have not tried; maybe it is a bad idea.
L. 683: The consideration of the particle-wall interactions seems in Equation 5 to be already conducted (with the particles between N+1 and N+Nb). If it is finally not the case, could you delete this part of the Equation?