Multiscale Modeling Approach to Predict and Reduce Agglomeration of Explosively Disseminated Aerosol Powders

Particle agglomeration is a severe impediment to dissemination of fine powders used as an obscurant for both military and law enforcement purposes. Agglomeration increases rate of particle settling and decreases screening ability of the obscurant within certain regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is therefore desirable to develop technology that reduces agglomeration of these powders during the dissemination process. The objective of the proposed project is to develop a multiscale computational approach for physics-based modeling of powder agglomeration / deagglomeration during explosive dissemination of obscurant powder.