Pure-triplet scattering for radiative transfer in binary discrete random finite media with reflective boundaries and internal source of radiation

The stochastic solution of the monoenergetic radiative transfer equation in a finite slab random medium with pure-triplet anisotropic scattering is considered. The random medium is assumed to consist of two randomly mixed immiscible fluids labelled by 1 and 2. The extinction function, the scattering kernel, and the internal source of radiation are treated as discrete random variables, which obey the same statistics. The theoretical model used here for stochastic media transport assumes Markovian processes and exponential chord length statistics. The boundaries of the medium under consideration are considered to have specular and diffuse reflectivities with an internal source of radiation inside the medium. The ensemble-average partial heat fluxes are obtained in terms of the average albedos of the corresponding source-free problem, whose solution is obtained by using the Pomraning–Eddington approximation. Numerical results are calculated for the average forward and backward partial heat fluxes for different values of the single scattering albedo with variation of the parameters that characterize the random medium. Compared to the results obtained by Adams et al. in the case of isotropic scattering based on the Monte Carlo technique, it can be demonstrated that we have good comparable data.     

Polarized radiation transfer in finite binary Markovian random media

The problem of polarized radiation transfer in a finite plane-parallel binary Markovian random medium is studied. Pomraning-Eddington approximation is used for both the total intensity and the difference function of the polarized radiation. The formalism obtained by Levermore et al. and Pomraning is used to average the obtained solution in the deterministic case. The random medium is assumed to have specular-reflecting boundaries with angular-dependent externally incident flux. Numerical results of the average reflectivity and the average transmissivity are calculated for the different degrees of polarization.     

Time-dependent radiation transfer with Rayleigh scattering in finite slab media

The time-dependent radiation transfer equation in a finite plane geometry with Rayleigh scattering is studied. The traveling wave transformation is used to obtain the corresponding stationary-like equation. Pomraning-Eddington approximation is then used to find the solution. Numerical results for reflectivity at the left boundary and transmissivity from the right boundary are presented at different times. The medium is assumed to have specular-reflecting boundaries with angular-dependent externally incident flux. Two different weight functions are introduced to force the boundary conditions to fulfill.     

Non-gray radiative transfer in plane-parallel media with reflecting boundaries

A generalized equation of radiative transfer in the two-group picket-fence model is analyzed for a plane parallel, emitting, absorbing and isotropically scattering medium containing uniform heat sources and having boundary surfaces which are diffuse emitters and diffuse reflectors and are maintained at uniform but arbitrary temperatures. The solution of the general problem is expressed by the superposition of simpler problems which are solved by the application of the normal-mode-expansion technique. Highly accurate numerical results are presented for the temperature distribution and the radiative heat flux in the medium.     

Radiative transfer in a scattering medium with angle-dependent reflective boundaries

Abstract

Radiative transfer in an anisotropically scattering slab with direction-dependent reflectivities at the interfaces is solved using the Pomraning–Eddington variational method. The interfaces are assumed to reflect specularly as a function of angle of incidence according to Fresnel's equation. The quantities of interest, such as the hemispherical reflectivity and transmissivity of the medium, are calculated for different optical thicknesses, single-scattering albedos and refractive indices of the medium. The results are compared with the exact numerical results and with those obtained using the average value of the reflectivities instead of the angle-dependent Fresnel reflectivity. Calculations are also performed for a semi-infinite medium and compared with results calculated using the average reflectivities.     

Fluctuation theory for radiative transfer in random media

We consider the effect of small scale random fluctuations of the constitutive coefficients on boundary measurements of solutions to radiative transfer equations. As the correlation length of the random oscillations tends to zero, the transport solution is well approximated by a deterministic, averaged, solution. In this paper, we analyze the random fluctuations to the averaged solution, which may be interpreted as a central limit correction to homogenization.With the inverse transport problem in mind, we characterize the random structure of the singular components of the transport measurement operator. In regimes of moderate scattering, such components provide stable reconstructions of the constitutive parameters in the transport equation. We show that the random fluctuations strongly depend on the decorrelation properties of the random medium.     

Stochastic radiative transfer in a finite plane with anisotropic scattering in a binary Markovian mixture

The time-independent linear transport problem in a stochastic finite-plane medium with linear anisotropic scattering is considered. The medium is assumed to consist of two randomly mixed immiscible fluids, with the mixing statistics described as a two-state homogeneous Markov process. The Pomraning-Eddington approach is used to obtain an explicit solution to the problem in the deterministic case. A formalism, developed to treat radiative transfer in statistical mixtures, is used to obtain the ensemble-averaged solution for the problem under consideration. In the case of isotropic scattering, explicit analytic results for reflectivity and transmissivity, which show a good agreement with Monte Carlo benchmark results, are given. Results for reflectivity and transmissivity in the case of linear anisotropic scattering are also given.     

Iterative approach of high-order scattering solution for vector radiative transfer of inhomogeneous random media

By stratifying a random scatter media into multiple thin layers in the vertical z direction, the first-order scattering solution of each thin layer is employed to derive high-order scattering solution of whole random media. Using the Fourier transform and Mueller matrices in discrete ordinates, an iterative approach to solve high-order scattering solution of vector radiative transfer (VRT) equation is newly developed. Numerical results are well compared with the Mueller matrix solutions of the first order for a single layer medium, second order for a half-space, and the results of the discrete ordinate and eigen analysis method. It demonstrates our approach as feasible, effective and especially applicable to high-order solution of VRT for both bistatic scattering and thermal emission of inhomogeneous non-spherical scatter media.     

On the finite volume method and the discrete ordinates method regarding radiative heat transfer in acute forward anisotropic scattering media

The ability of the finite volume method (FVM) and the discrete ordinates method (DOM) to model radiative heat transfer in acute forward anisotropic scattering media has been investigated. The test case involves a purely scattering medium in a cubic enclosure, irradiated by one boundary with diffuse emission. Four phase functions have been considered: three of the Henyey-Greenstein type with respective asymmetry factors of 0.2, 0.8 and 0.93, and a Mie phase function with a strong forward scattering peak (computed for a size parameter of 245 and corresponding to an asymmetry factor of 0.93). Results obtained with the FVM are in good agreement with Monte Carlo reference solutions, whatever the level of acute anisotropic scattering (for asymmetry factors up to 0.93). The DOM combined with the renormalization procedures of the phase function proposed by Kim and Lee (Effect of anisotropic scattering on radiative heat transfer in two-dimensional rectangular enclosures. Int J Heat Mass Transfer 1988;31:1711-21. [1]) and Wiscombe (On initialization error and flux conservation in the doubling method. JQSRT 1976;18:637-58. [2]) provides accurate results only for the smallest asymmetry factor. As the asymmetry factor increases, the renormalization procedures induce strong modifications in the values of the discretized phase function resulting in an underestimation of the effective attenuation by scattering. This error has been found to increase with optical thickness. In fact, when using the DOM, results would be more accurate combining this method with a Delta-Eddington approximation of the phase function, instead of using the actual phase function which is altered too much by renormalization.     

Nonaxisymmetric radiative transfer in inhomogeneous cylindrical media with anisotropic scattering

In this paper, the control volume finite element method (CVFEM) is applied for the first time to solve nonaxisymmetric radiative transfer in inhomogeneous, emitting, absorbing and anisotropic scattering cylindrical media. Mathematical formulations as well as numerical implementation are given and the final discretized equations are based on similar meshes used for convective and conductive heat transfer in computational fluid dynamic analysis. In order to test the efficiency of the developed method, four nonaxisymmetric problems have been examined. Also, the grid dependence and the false scattering of the CVFEM are investigated and compared with the finite volume method and the discrete ordinates interpolation method.     

Remarks on the radiative transfer approach to scattering of electromagnetic waves in layered random media

The radiative transfer (RT) approach is widely used in applications involving scattering from layered random media with rough interfaces. Although it has been successful in several applications in various disciplines it is well known that this approach involves certain approximations. In this paper these assumptions and approximations are reexamined. To enable this a statistical wave approach is employed to this problem and the governing equations for the first and second moments of the wave functions are derived. A transition is hence made to arrive at a system of equations corresponding to that of the RT approach. It is hence found that more conditions are implicitly involved in the RT approach than generally believed to be sufficient.     

Two-dimensional radiative transfer in a finite scattering planar medium

The source function, radiative flux, and intensity at the boundaries are calculated for a two-dimensional, scattering, finite medium subjected to collimated radiation. The scattering phase function is composed of a spike in the forward direction super-imposed on an isotropic background. Exact radiative transfer theory is used to formulate the problem and Ambarzumian's method is used to obtain results. Using the principle of superposition, the results for any step variation in incident radiation are expressed in terms of universal functions for the semi-infinite step case. Two-dimensional effects are most pronounced at large optical thicknesses and albedos.     

Least-squares collocation meshless approach for radiative heat transfer in absorbing and scattering media

A least-squares collocation meshless method is employed for solving the radiative heat transfer in absorbing, emitting and scattering media. The least-squares collocation meshless method for radiative transfer is based on the discrete ordinates equation. A moving least-squares approximation is applied to construct the trial functions. Except for the collocation points which are used to construct the trial functions, a number of auxiliary points are also adopted to form the total residuals of the problem. The least-squares technique is used to obtain the solution of the problem by minimizing the summation of residuals of all collocation and auxiliary points. Three numerical examples are studied to illustrate the performance of this new solution method. The numerical results are compared with the other benchmark approximate solutions. By comparison, the results show that the least-squares collocation meshless method is efficient, accurate and stable, and can be used for solving the radiative heat transfer in absorbing, emitting and scattering media.     

Hybrid finite volume/ finite element method for radiative heat transfer in graded index media

The rays propagate along curved path determined by the Fermat principle in the graded index medium. The radiative transfer equation in graded index medium (GRTE) contains two specific redistribution terms (with partial derivatives to the angular coordinates) accounting for the effect of the curved ray path. In this paper, the hybrid finite volume with finite element method (hybrid FVM/FEM) (P.J. Coelho, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transf., vol. 93, pp. 89–101, 2005) is extended to solve the radiative heat transfer in two-dimensional absorbing-emitting-scattering graded index media, in which the spatial discretization is carried out using a FVM, while the angular discretization is by a FEM. The FEM angular discretization is demonstrated to be preferable in dealing with the redistribution terms in the GRTE. Two stiff matrix assembly schemes of the angular FEM discretization, namely, the traditional assembly approach and a new spherical assembly approach (assembly on the unit sphere of the solid angular space), are discussed. The spherical assembly scheme is demonstrated to give better results than the traditional assembly approach. The predicted heat flux distributions and temperature distributions in radiative equilibrium are determined by the proposed method and compared with the results available in other references. The proposed hybrid FVM/FEM method can predict the radiative heat transfer in absorbing-emitting-scattering graded index medium with good accuracy.     

MOL solution of DOM for transient radiative transfer in 3-D scattering media

A methodology based on the method of lines solution of discrete ordinates method for solution of the 3-D transient radiative transfer equation is introduced. The method is applied to the prediction of transient and steady state transmittances in a cubical enclosure containing purely scattering medium and validated against Monte Carlo solutions from the literature. The flexibility of the method for implementation of linear spatial differencing schemes, flux limiters and weighted essentially non-oscillatory methods is demonstrated. Van Leer flux limiter is found to provide stable, accurate and efficient solutions.     

Grey radiative transfer in binary statistical media with material temperature coupling: asymptotic limits

Simplified models for the unconditional ensemble-averaged radiation intensity and material energy are developed for radiative transfer in binary statistical media. Asymptotic analysis is used to construct an effective transport model with homogenized opacities in two limits. In the first, the material properties are assumed to have low contrast on average, and is shown to correctly reproduce the well-known atomic mix model in both time-dependent and equilibrium situations. Our analysis successfully resolves an inconsistency previously noted in the literature with the application of the standard definition of the atomic mix limit to radiative transfer in participating random media. In the second limit considered, the materials are assumed to have highly contrasting opacities, yielding a reduced transport model with effective scattering. The existence of these limits requires the mean chunk sizes to be independent of the photon direction and this creates an ambiguity in the interpretation of the models when the underlying stochastic geometry is comprised of alternating one-dimensional slabs. A consistent one-dimensional setting is defined and the asymptotic models are numerically validated over a broad range of physical parameter values.     

A derivation of the radiation transfer theory for random media

The wave propagation in a medium with randomly varying material parameters is considered. Starting from a quite general form of the Bethe-Salpeter equation for the two-point moment of the field, a spectral balance equation is derived. In a first step, a Wigner transformation is carried out which converts the two-point moment into a function depending on position, time, wave vector and frequency. Then, for wavelengths which are long compared to the correlation length of the medium, this function is split up into a relevant part and a background. Eliminating the background leads to the usual radiation transfer theory and provides us a general and concise expression for the effective scattering in terms of the effective operators involved in the Bethe-Salpeter equation. In the case of weak heterogeneity, the result reduces to those previously obtained.     

Time-dependent polarized radiation transfer in semi-infinite binary Markovian media

The problem of time-dependent radiation transfer in a semi-infinite plane-parallel random medium with Rayleigh scattering phase function including polarization is considered. The random medium is assumed to consist of two immiscible mixed materials with specular reflecting boundary. The mixing statistics of the two components of the medium is described by the two-state homogeneous Markovian statistics. A formalism, developed to treat radiative transfer in statistical mixtures, is used to obtain the ensemble-averaged solution. Two different weight functions are used to obtain the numerical results for the ensemble-average for reflectivity, radiant energy, and net flux of the medium at any time.     

Localization of radiation in two-dimensional random media of finite extent

The localization of electromagnetic waves in a two-dimensional random medium composed of strong scatterers is studied theoretically. It is shown that an allowance for the spatial radiation intensity distribution inside the medium, along with an analysis of the distance dependence of the transmission coefficient, is needed to reveal the localization states in media of finite extent.