Effect of gravity on the growth of fractal aggregates

Computer simulations and ground-based experiments were performed in order to study the effect of gravity on the growth of fractal aggregates. For computer simulations, a stochastic gravity-limited aggregation model was used, and the fractal dimension was estimated by two different methods of measurement. For ground-based experiments, an evaporation-condensation (EC) technique was used in order to grow aggregates under varied conditions of simulated reduced gravity. The fractality of such aggregates was studied by low angle light scattering and other experimental methods. In both cases, real and computer simulated aggregates, a significant increase of the fractal dimension with increasing gravity was observed.