Growth kinetics in multicomponent fluids

The hydrodynamic effects on the late-stage kinetics in spinodal decomposition of multicomponent fluids are examined using a lattice Boltzmann scheme with stochastic fluctuations in the fluid and at the interface. In two dimensions, the three- and four-component immiscible fluid mixture (with a 10242 lattice) behaves like an off-critical binary fluid with an estimated domain growth of t0.4±0.03 rather than t1/3 as previously estimated, showing the significant influence of hydrodynamics. In three dimensions (with a 2563 lattice), we estimate the growth as t0.96±0.05 for both critical and off-critical quenches, in agreement with phenomenological theory. © 1995 Plenum Publishing Corporation.