3D Spinodal Decomposition in the Inertial Regime

We simulate late-stage coarsening of a 3D symmetric binary fluid using a lattice Boltzmann method. With reduced lengths and times, l and t, respectively (with scales set by viscosity, density, and surface tension), our data sets cover 1l10⁵ and 10t10⁸. We achieve Reynolds numbers approaching $350$. At Re100 we find clear evidence of Furukawa's inertial scaling ( l~t2/3), although the crossover from the viscous regime ( l~t) is very broad. Though it cannot be ruled out, we find no indication that Re is self-limiting ( l~t1/2) as proposed by M. Grant and K. R. Elder [Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 14 (1999)].