Simulate the dispersion of 6 aggregates of differing sizes and volume fraction

I am trying to simulate the mixing of a powder and the resultant dispersion. There are 6 ingredients of differing sizes to include. A 3d plot of the dispersion would be ideal but 2d may be suitable to progress from. Latterly I will be looking at the interactions/reactons between the ingredients but I currently just need to get a plot of their locations in space sorted.

I was intending on using a Mote Carlo approach but I have not found any code which seems sufficient. I have also looked at 3d sphere plots and considered the numerous codes for concrete modelling, however I have not found anything with more than 1 ingredient.

Can someone point me in the right direction please

Answer 1

[Atharva]

Hey Jon,

To simulate the mixing of ingredients and visualize their dispersion in MATLAB, you can use interpolation and curve fitting techniques available in the Curve Fitting Toolbox. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you get started:

1. Define the initial positions and sizes of the ingredients: Start by specifying the initial positions and sizes of your six ingredients in 3D space. You can represent each ingredient as a sphere, where the position corresponds to the center of the sphere and the size determines its radius.
2. Generate random trajectories for ingredient movement: Using the Monte Carlo approach, generate random trajectories for the ingredients. These trajectories will represent the movement of each ingredient during the mixing process. You can use the rand function in MATLAB to generate random numbers between 0 and 1 and then scale and transform them according to your requirements.
3. Simulate ingredient dispersion: Apply the generated trajectories to disperse the ingredients in the mixing space. Update the positions of the ingredients based on the calculated trajectories. You can use a loop to update the positions iteratively, simulating the mixing process.
4. Interpolate the ingredient positions: Once the mixing process is complete, you can interpolate the ingredient positions to obtain a smoother representation of the dispersion. Interpolation can help fill in the gaps between discrete positions and provide a more continuous representation.
5. Visualize the dispersion: Finally, plot the dispersion of the ingredients in 2D or 3D space. You can use the scatter3 function in MATLAB to create a 3D scatter plot, where each ingredient is represented by a point in space. Alternatively, you can use 2D scatter plots if a 3D representation is not necessary.