Simulating bubble dynamics in a buoyant system

Multiphase flows are critical components of many physical systems; however, numerical models of multiphase flows with large parameter gradients can be challenging. Here, two different numerical methods, volume of fluid (VOF) and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), are used to model the buoyant rise of isolated gas bubbles through quiescent fluids for a range of Bond and Reynolds numbers. The VOF is an Eulerian grid–based method, whereas the SPH is Lagrangian and mesh free. Each method has unique strengths and weaknesses, and a comparison of the two approaches as applied to multiphase phenomena has not previously been performed. The VOF and SPH simulations are compared, verified, and validated. Results using two-dimensional VOF and SPH simulations are similar to each other and are able to reproduce numerical benchmarks and experimental results for sufficiently large Morton and Reynolds numbers. It is also shown that at low Reynolds numbers, the two methods, SPH and VOF, diverge in the transient regime of the bubble rise. Regimes that require simulations capable of representing three-dimensional drag are identified as well as regimes in which results from VOF and SPH diverge.     

Modeling the interaction of solitary waves and semi-circular breakwaters by using unsteady reynolds equations

A vertical 2 -D numerical wave model was developed based on unsteady Reynolds equations. In this model, the k-epsilon models were used to close the Reynolds equations, and volume of fluid( VOF) method was used to reconstruct the free surface. The model was verified by experimental data. Then the model was used to simulate solitary wave interaction with submerged, alternative submerged and emerged semi-circular breakwaters. The process of velocity field, pressure field and the wave surface near the breakwaters was obtained. It is found that when the semi-circular breakwater is submerged, a large vortex will be generated at the bottom of the lee side wall of the breakwater ; when the still water depth is equal to the radius of the semi-circular breakwater, a pair of large vortices will be generated near the shoreward wall of the semi-circular breakwater due to wave impacting, but the velocity near the bottom of the lee side wall of the breakwater is always relatively small. When the semi-circular breakwater is emerged, and solitary wave cannot overtop it, the solitary wave surface will run up and down secondarily during reflecting from the breakwater. It can be further used to estate the diffusing and transportation of the contamination and transportation of suspended sediment.     

An anti‐diffusive volume of fluid method for interfacial fluid flows

A volume of fluid (VOF) method is developed combining a first‐order limited downwind scheme with higher order accurate schemes. The method is characterized by retaining a sharp fluid interface and a reduction in numerical diffusion near the interface, but avoids complicated geometrical reconstruction as occurs in most volume tracing algorithms. To demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the method, a selection of numerical experiments are presented involving a pure advection problem, a water wave impact caused by a dam breaking and liquid sloshing in a partially filled tank. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical investigation of impinging gas jets onto deformable liquid layers

Impinging jets over liquid surfaces are a common practice in the metallurgy and chemical industries. This paper presents a numerical study of the fluid dynamics involved in this kind of processes. URANS simulations are performed using the volume of fluid (VOF) method to deal with the multiphase physics. This unsteady approach with the appropriate computational domain allows resolution of the big eddies responsible for the low frequency phenomena. The solver we used is based on the finite volume method and turbulence is modelled with the realisable k-? model. Two different configurations belonging to the dimpling and splashing modes are under consideration. The results are compared with PIV and LeDaR experimental data previously obtained by the authors. Attention is focused on the surroundings of the impingement, where the interaction between jet and liquid film is much stronger. Finally, frequency analysis is carried out to study the flapping motion of the jet and cavity oscillations.     

A thermodynamic and dynamic subgrid closure model for two‐material cells

A general and robust subgrid closure model for two‐material cells is proposed. The conservative quantities of the entire cell are apportioned between two materials, and then, pressure and velocity are fully or partially equilibrated by modeling subgrid wave interactions. An unconditionally stable and entropy‐satisfying solution of the processes has been successfully found. The solution is valid for arbitrary level of relaxation. The model is numerically designed with care for general materials and is computationally efficient without recourse to subgrid iterations or subcycling in time. The model is implemented and tested in the Lagrange‐remap framework. Two interesting results are observed in 1D tests. First, on the basis of the closure model without any pressure and velocity relaxation, a material interface can be resolved without creating numerical oscillations and/or large nonphysical jumps in the problem of the modified Sod shock tube. Second, the overheating problem seen near the wall surface can be solved by the present entropy‐satisfying closure model. The generality, robustness, and efficiency of the model make it useful in principle in algorithms, such as ALE methods, volume of fluid methods, and even some mixture models, for compressible two‐phase flow computations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

壁面结构对非定常薄膜流动表面波特性的影响

采用VOF方法,在入口处引入周期扰动,对沿矩形结构底板下落的二维非定常薄膜流动进行直接数值模拟.计算结果表明,不同频率的外加周期扰动在流场中激发出不同波长的自由表面波.当壁面结构的波长与之相比较小时,由于壁面结构引起的静态波骑行在外加扰动形成的行进波上.若这两个波长相近,非线性效应将促进附近的表面波之间的合并.当薄膜无...     

Computational approach for a pair of bubble coalescence process

The coalescence of bubbles has great value in mineral recovery and oil industry. In this paper, two co-axial bubbles rising in a cylinder is modelled to study the coalescence of bubbles for four computational experimental test cases. The Reynolds’ (Re) number is chosen in between 8.50 and 10, Bond number, Bo ∼4.25-50, Morton number, M 0.0125-14.7. The viscosity ratio (μ_r) and density ratio (ρ_r) of liquid to bubble are kept constant (100 and 850 respectively). It was found that the Bo number has significant effect on the coalescence process for constant Re, μ_r and ρ_r. The bubble-bubble distance over time was validated against published experimental data. The results show that VOF approach can be used to model these phenomena accurately. The surface tension was changed to alter the Bo and density of the fluids to alter the Re and M, keeping the μ_r and ρ_r the same. It was found that for lower Bo, the bubble coalesce is slower and the pocket at the lower part of the leading bubble is less concave (towards downward) which is supported by the experimental data.     

瞬变流中气泡动力过程研究

微气泡的生成等基础问题制约着鼓泡脱气技术的发展。本文基于对文丘里鼓泡器内流场的研究,对不同雷诺数下的气泡动力特性进行研究,采用大涡模拟和流体体积法相结合的数值模拟方法,对气泡在不同瞬时动态变化流场下的动力特性进行研究,通过分析气泡在不同湍流下的表面积,气泡球度,以及气泡表面所处的湍流应力,计算气泡所受的破坏应力与聚合应力之比,得到气泡的临界韦伯数随气泡在瞬变湍流中的变化过程,分析气泡破碎的临界条件。     

液滴在气流中破碎的数值分析

液滴的破碎是液体抛撒、破碎和雾化中的一个非常重要的阶段,它直接影响到最终的液滴的尺寸和散布。为了揭示液滴破碎的机理和影响破碎的因素,本文通过应用VOF方法和湍流模型对液滴在气流中的破碎过程进行了数值计算。数值计算得到了与国外实验研究相一致的液滴破碎形状。并根据数值计算的结果,分析了几个特征参数对液滴破碎过程的影响。     

A new VOF‐based numerical scheme for the simulation of fluid flow with free surface. Part II: application to the cavity filling and sloshing problems

Finite element analysis of fluid flow with moving free surface has been performed in 2‐D and 3‐D. The new VOF‐based numerical algorithm that has been proposed by the present authors (Int. J. Numer. Meth. Fluids, submitted) was applied to several 2‐D and 3‐D free surface flow problems. The proposed free surface tracking scheme is based on two numerical tools; the orientation vector to represent the free surface orientation in each cell and the baby‐cell to determine the fluid volume flux at each cell boundary. The proposed numerical algorithm has been applied to 2‐D and 3‐D cavity filling and sloshing problems in order to demonstrate the versatility and effectiveness of the scheme. The proposed numerical algorithm resolved successfully the free surfaces interacting with each other. The simulated results demonstrated applicability of the proposed numerical algorithm to the practical problems of large free surface motion. It has been also demonstrated that the proposed free surface tracking scheme can be easily implemented in any irregular non‐uniform grid systems and can be extended to 3‐D free surface flow problems without additional efforts. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.