MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION OF PARTICLE SEGREGATION

The Monte Carlo method was used to simulate particle segregation in gr avitational fields. Systems containing one or two types of spherical p articles were simulated, assuming that the particles interact accordin g to a quasi-hard core potential. Systems with 1000 particles were sim ulated, replicated by periodical boundary conditions in the directions perpendicular to the gravitational field; at the top and bottom of th e simulation box, the existence of rigid walls was assumed. Results fo r local composition and local voidage as a function of the height of t he solid sediment are presented. The results for binary systems show t hat when very light particles are present in the mixture, it is possib le, under certain conditions, to obtain configurations in which the pa rticles with the smallest diameter concentrate at the top of the solid sediment. In order to observe the three-dimensional system configurat ions that result from the simulations, computational programs were dev eloped in the virtual reality modeling language (VRML). (C) 1998 Elsev ier Science S.A. AII rights reserved.