Next: Air Void Radii Up: Main Previous: Void-Void Proximity Distribution


Numerical Experiment

The computer program used in this experiment was based upon one that was used previously in a similar experiment [42]. The computer generates sphere radii and sorts them in order of decreasing radii. Random locations are generated for the centers of the spheres, and they are placed inside a cube 10 mm long on a side. As the spheres are placed, should a new sphere overlap an existing one, new random locations for the center are generated until it no longer overlaps an existing sphere. This "parking" approach is used until all the spheres are placed into the cube. For any portion of a sphere protruding out from one face of the cube, there is a virtual sphere of the same size placed outside the opposite face such that its intruding portion exactly compensates for the protruding portion of the original sphere. This is the technique of periodic boundary conditions and helps to eliminate finite-size effects. Once all the spheres have been placed, the computer knows the size and location of every sphere in the system. From this, the computer can calculate any desired measure of spacing.