Using computational steering to explore the parameter space of stability in a suspension

We simulate a suspension of model colloidal particles interacting via DLVO (Derjaguin, Landau, Vervey, Overbeek) potentials. The interaction potentials can be related to experimental conditions, defined by the pH-value, the salt concentration and the volume fraction of solid particles suspended in the acqueous solvent. Depending on these parameters, the system shows different structural properties, including cluster formation, a glass-like repulsive structure, or a stable suspension. To explore the parameter space many simulations are required. In order to reduce the computational effort and data storage requirements, we developed a steering approach to control a running simulation and to detect interesting transitions from one region in the configuration space to another. In this article we describe the implementation of the steering in the simulation program and illustrate its applicability by several example cases

Liquid metal flows driven by rotating and traveling magnetic fields

Alternating magnetic fields provide a comfortable means for non-intrusive flow control in conductive fluids. However, despite a long history of applications in metallurgy and crystal growth, detailed investigation of the practically important transitional and turbulent flow regimes has become possible only in the last dozen years. The present review gives an overview of this topic with focus on recent experimental and numerical studies of the flow driven by rotating and traveling magnetic fields. We discuss the three-dimensional, instantaneous flow structure as well as the resulting average transport properties for a broad range of parameters, including the superposition of both field types. In addition to the ideal case, the effect of a misalignment of the field with respect to the container axis will be considered, too

Structural Transitions in Colloidal Suspensions

In suspensions of colloidal particles different types of interactions are in a subtle interplay. In this report we are interested in sub-micro meter sized Al2O3 particles which are suspended in water. Their interactions can be adjusted by tuning the pH-value and the salt concentration. In this manner different microscopic structures can be obtained. Industrial processes for the production of ceramics can be optimized by taking advantage of specific changes of the microscopic structure. To investigate the influences of the pH-value and the salt concentration on the microscopic structure and the properties of the suspension, we have developed a coupled Stochastic Rotation Dynamics (SRD) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation code. The code has been parallelized using MPI. We utilize the pair correlation function and the structure factor to analyze the structure of the suspension. The results are summarized in a stability diagram. For selected conditions we study the process of cluster formation in large scale simulations of dilute suspensions