Mechanical vibration assisted homogenization mechanism of Bi₂O₃-ZnO-B₂O₃ ternary glass slurry

In this work, the mixing process and homogenization mechanism of Bi₂O-ZnO-B₂O₃ ternary glass slurry under mechanical excitation were numerically studied. Firstly, the dynamic viscosity of Bi₂O₃, ZnO and B₂O₃ glass slurries were measured by rotating viscometer and the particle sizes were measured by optical microscope. The diffusion coefficient of the slurries were obtained by Stokes-Einstein equation. Then, the simulation model for the mixing process of Bi₂O₃-ZnO-B₂O₃ ternary glass slurry under mechanical vibration is established by Fluent software, and the mixing deviation describing the mixing uniformity of ternary glass slurry is defined. The numerical results show that the increase of the amplitude and frequency of the container both accelerate the mixing of ternary slurry. The exciting amplitude and frequency should not be two large, otherwise, the slurries would overflow the container. Additionally, mixing deviation decreases with the increase of exciting time, which can be described by power function, so that the time required to mix uniformly for Bi₂O₃-ZnO-B₂O₃ ternary glass slurry under different amplitudes and frequencies can be predicted. Appropriate amplitudes and frequencies are helpful to improve mixing efficiency and avoid slurry overflowing the container.