Monte carlo simulation of clustering of alumina particles in turbulent liquid aluminum

A Monte Carlo method was developed to simulate the formation of clusters of alumina particles suspended in a turbulent pure liquid aluminum melt. With this approach, the chaotic movements of small alumina particles suspended within eddies smaller than the Kolmogoroff microscale were treated in a similar way to Brownian motion, and clusters were assumed to form once these particles collided with each other. The results obtained from the simulation indicate that clusters form very quickly during vigorous stirring and that the formation kinetics at the very beginning of mixing follow a second-order behavior. Clustering has been observed previously in the SiC-Al system and was also observed in the Al₂O₃-Al system in the present work.