Attempts to understand and describe growth processes in material physico-chemical systems are often made using nucleation theory, which works well in the dilute limit. The range of validity of nucleation theoretical models can be explored using microscopic simulation models in which nucleating clusters can be counted and measured exactly. The Becker-Doring nucleation theory is described and its range of validity is discussed for binary alloy simulations using the Kawasaki exchange model in various concentration regimes. Graph labeling and enumeration techniques are employed to study the range of sizes of clusters present in nucleating systems.
Keywords: mathematical modelling; numerical methods; Monte Carlo simulation; cluster; nucleation; droplet; growth.
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Citation Information: Accepted for and to appear in Proc. IASTED International Conference on Modelling and Simulation (AfricaMS 2008), Gabarone, Botswana, 8-10 September, 2008.