Grey radiative transfer in binary statistical media with material temperature coupling: asymptotic limits

Simplified models for the unconditional ensemble-averaged radiation intensity and material energy are developed for radiative transfer in binary statistical media. Asymptotic analysis is used to construct an effective transport model with homogenized opacities in two limits. In the first, the material properties are assumed to have low contrast on average, and is shown to correctly reproduce the well-known atomic mix model in both time-dependent and equilibrium situations. Our analysis successfully resolves an inconsistency previously noted in the literature with the application of the standard definition of the atomic mix limit to radiative transfer in participating random media. In the second limit considered, the materials are assumed to have highly contrasting opacities, yielding a reduced transport model with effective scattering. The existence of these limits requires the mean chunk sizes to be independent of the photon direction and this creates an ambiguity in the interpretation of the models when the underlying stochastic geometry is comprised of alternating one-dimensional slabs. A consistent one-dimensional setting is defined and the asymptotic models are numerically validated over a broad range of physical parameter values.