Range of Validity of the Rayleigh-Debye-Gans Theory for Optics of Fractal Aggregates

Abstract

The range of validity of the Rayleigh-Debye-Gans approximation for the optical cross sections of fractal aggregates (RDG-FA) that are formed by uniform small particles was evaluated in comparison with the integral equation formulation for scattering (IEFS), which accounts for the effects of multiple scattering and self-interaction. Numerical simulations were performed to create aggregates that exhibit mass fractallike characteristics with a wide range of particle and aggregate sizes and morphologies, includingx [subscript p] = 0.01-1.0, |m - 1| = 0.1-2.0, N = 16-256, and D[subscript f] = 1.0-3.0. The percent differences between both scattering theories were presented as error contour charts in the |m- 1|x[subscript p] domains for various size aggregates, emphasizing fractal properties representative of diffusion-limited cluster-cluster aggregation. These charts conveniently identified the regions in which the differences were less than 10%, between 10% and 30%, and more than 30% for easy to use general guidelines for suitability of the RDG-FA theory in any scattering applications of interest, such as laser-based particulate diagnostics. Various types of aggregate geometry ranging from straight chains (D f ≈ 1.0) to compact clusters (D [subscript f] ~ 3.0) were also considered for generalization of the findings. For the present computational conditions, the RDG-FA theory yielded accurate predictions to within 10% for |m - 1| to approximately 1 or more as long as the primary particles in aggregates were within the Rayleigh scattering limit (x[subscript p] ≤ 0.3). Additionally, the effect of fractal dimension on the performance of the RDG-FA was generally found to be insignificant. The results suggested that the RDG-FA theory is a reasonable approximation for optics of a wide range of fractal aggregates, considerably extending its domain of applicability.

Department(s)

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1559-128X

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1996 Optical Society of America, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jan 1996

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