A lattice Boltzmann study of the hydrodynamic properties of 3D fractal aggregates

Lattice Boltzmann numerical simulations were performed to obtain the drag force on 3D fractal objects. The hydrodynamic radius RhRh was calculated and compared with the radius of gyration RgRg for a series of fractal aggregates to get an insight in to the role of the aggregate size and fractal dimension. We show that R∼N1/DfR∼N1/Df and Rh/Rg=f(Df)Rh/Rg=f(Df). In addition, a new characteristic radius Rβ has emerged from a scaling of numerical results.