The fractal properties of two & three dimensional computer simulated agglomerates

As a step towards classifying the fractal nature of filter cakes, particle agglomerates have been grown onto seed particles in both two and three dimensions using a new computer simulation. The agglomeration process was controlled by varying the amount of diffusion influence in the growth mechanism. The perimeter and density fractal dimensions of simulated agglomerates comprising up to 800 particles were measured using three different automated techniques. The perimeter dimension was found to increase with larger diffusion influence, whilst the density of the structure, measured using the enclosing circles and radius of gyration methods, decreased as the level of diffusion increased. The importance of these results to the characterisation of cake filtration processes is discussed.