A Numerical Method for Capillarity-Driven Free Surface Flows

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Y. Tong ◽  
Zhaoyuan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Free Surface ◽  
Level Set ◽  
Surface Tension Force ◽  
Surface Force ◽  
Volume Of Fluid ◽  
Free Surface Flows ◽  
Tension Force ◽  
Navier Stokes Equation ◽  
Spurious Currents

The continuum surface force (CSF) method has been extensively employed in the volume-of-fluid (VOF), level set (LS) and front tracking methods to model surface tension force. It is a robust method requiring relatively easy implementation. However, it is known to generate spurious currents near the interface that may lead to disastrous interface instabilities and failures of grid convergence. A different surface tension implementation algorithm, referred to as the pressure boundary method (PBM), is introduced in this study. The surface tension force is incorporated into the Navier-Stokes equation via a capillary pressure gradient while the free surface is tracked by a coupled level set and volume-of-fluid (CLSVOF) method. It has been shown that the spurious currents are greatly reduced by the present method with the sharp pressure boundary condition preserved. The numerical results of several cases have been compared with data reported in the literature and are found to be in a close agreement.

scholarly journals On sharp surface force model: Effect of sharpening coefficient

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 226-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurian J. Vachaparambil ◽  
Kristian Etienne Einarsrud
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Capillary Rise ◽  
Surface Tension Force ◽  
Surface Force ◽  
Volume Of Fluid ◽  
Tension Force ◽  
Force Model ◽  
Relative Ease

Abstract Amongst the multitude of approaches available in literature to reduce spurious velocities in Volume of Fluid approach, the Sharp Surface Force (SSF) model is increasingly being used due to its relative ease to implement. The SSF approach relies on a user-defined parameter, the sharpening coefficient, which determines the extent of the smeared nature of interface used to determine the surface tension force. In this paper, we use the SSF model implemented in OpenFOAM® to investigate the effect of this sharpening coefficient on spurious velocities and accuracy of dynamic, i.e., capillary rise, and static bubble simulations. Results show that increasing the sharpening coefficient generally reduces the spurious velocities in both static and dynamic cases. Although static millimeter sized bubbles were simulated with the whole range of sharpening coefficients, sub-millimeter sized bubbles show nonphysical behavior for values larger than 0.3. The accuracy of the capillary rise simulations has been observed to change non-linearly with the sharpening coefficient. This work illustrates the importance of using an optimized value of the sharpening coefficient with respect to spurious velocities and accuracy of the simulation.

scholarly journals Comparison of Surface Tension Models for the Volume of Fluid Method

Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurian J. Vachaparambil ◽  
Kristian Etienne Einarsrud
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Multiphase Flow ◽  
Capillary Rise ◽  
Surface Tension Force ◽  
Surface Force ◽  
Parallel Plates ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Mesh Resolution ◽  
Active Research ◽  
Spurious Currents

With the increasing use of Computational Fluid Dynamics to investigate multiphase flow scenarios, modelling surface tension effects has been a topic of active research. A well known associated problem is the generation of spurious velocities (or currents), arising due to inaccuracies in calculations of the surface tension force. These spurious currents cause nonphysical flows which can adversely affect the predictive capability of these simulations. In this paper, we implement the Continuum Surface Force (CSF), Smoothed CSF and Sharp Surface Force (SSF) models in OpenFOAM. The models were validated for various multiphase flow scenarios for Capillary numbers of 10 − 3 –10. All the surface tension models provide reasonable agreement with benchmarking data for rising bubble simulations. Both CSF and SSF models successfully predicted the capillary rise between two parallel plates, but Smoothed CSF could not provide reliable results. The evolution of spurious current were studied for millimetre-sized stationary bubbles. The results shows that SSF and CSF models generate the least and most spurious currents, respectively. We also show that maximum time step, mesh resolution and the under-relaxation factor used in the simulations affect the magnitude of spurious currents.

A Viscoelastic VOF-PROST Code for the Study of Drop Deformation

Volume 3 ◽  
2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Renardy ◽  
M. Renardy ◽  
T. Chinyoka ◽  
D. B. Khismatullin ◽  
J. Li
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Constitutive Equation ◽  
Viscoelastic Medium ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Surface Tension Force ◽  
Volume Of Fluid ◽  
Tension Force ◽  
Drop Deformation ◽  
Volume Of Fluid Method ◽  
Viscoelastic Liquids

A volume of fluid method is developed with a parabolic representation of the interface for the surface tension force (VOF-PROST). This three-dimensional transient code is extended to treat viscoelastic liquids with the Oldroyd-B constitutive equation. Simulations of deformation for a Newtonian drop in a viscoelastic medium under shear are reported.

On methods to reduce spurious currents within VOF solver frameworks. Part 1: a review of the static bubble/droplet

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkatesh Inguva ◽  
Andreas Schulz ◽  
Eugeny Y. Kenig
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Aqueous Phase ◽  
Level Set ◽  
Capillary Number ◽  
Classical Case ◽  
Surface Tension Force ◽  
Artificial Viscosity ◽  
Special Treatment ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Spurious Currents

AbstractIn two-phase flows in which the Capillary number is low, errors in the computation of the surface tension force at the interface cause Front-Capturing methods such as Volume of Fluid (VOF) and Level-Set (LS) to develop interfacial spurious currents. To better solve low Capillary number flows, special treatment is required to reduce such spurious currents. Smoothing the phase indicator field to more accurately compute the curvature or adding interfacial artificial viscosity are techniques that can treat this problem. This study explores OpenFOAM, Fluent and StarCCM+ VOF solvers for the classical case of a static bubble/droplet immersed in a continuous aqueous phase, with the focus on the ability of these solvers to adequately reduce spurious currents. The results are expected to be helpful for practicing chemical engineers who use multiphase CFD solvers in their work.

Finite Element Simulations of Free Surface Flows With Surface Tension in Complex Geometries

2002 ◽  
Vol 124 (3) ◽  
pp. 584-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Surface Tension ◽  
Finite Element ◽  
Free Surface ◽  
Surface Force ◽  
Free Surface Flows ◽  
Complex Geometries ◽  
Finite Element Program ◽  
Surface Flows ◽  
Static Contact ◽  
Element Program

The finite-element program, ANSYS/FLOTRAN, has been enhanced at Release 5.7 to predict free surface flows with surface tension in complex geometries. The two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes and energy equations are solved in both Cartesian and axisymmetric coordinate systems. At Release 5.6, the free surface capabilities have been incorporated into ANSYS/FLOTRAN using the CLEAR-VOF algorithm. The main contribution of this work is to implement a surface tension model into ANSYS/FLOTRAN to study free surface flows with surface tension in complex geometries. Both normal and tangential components of surface tension forces are modeled at the interface through a continuum surface force (CSF) model. This new algorithm is first validated with two model problems: a droplet in equilibrium and an oscillating droplet. For the first problem, the computed pressure value is compared with the theoretical value, whereas for the second problem, the oscillation frequency is compared with both the analytical solution and experimental data. The computer program is then applied to thermocapillary flows in two types of trapezoidal cavities to investigate the interesting flow and heat transfer characteristics. Systematic calculations are performed to study the influence of Marangoni number, capillary number and static contact angle on Marangoni convection.

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