Evaluation of the interface-capturing algorithm of OpenFoam for the simulation of incompressible immiscible two-phase flow

Abstract

The Mass-Conserving Level-Set method combines the efficiency of a Level-Set algorithm with the mass conserving properties of the Volume Of Fluid method. It avoids the work intensive interface construction of the former method and imposes a mass-conserving correction to the distance function of the latter. The interface capturing algorithm implemented in OpenFOAM uses a compressive convection scheme for the evolution of the VOF colour function, as opposed to an interface reconstruction algorithm. Therefore, it can be assumed to match the efficiency of the MCLS method. Further analysis of the accuracy of the algorithm is required to make a fair comparison. In this report the accuracy will be evaluated for the simulation of incompressible, immiscible two-phase flow in two and three spatial dimensions. Three representative test cases are considered: The advection of a spherical bubble for an imposed, constant velocity field (2D), a rising (buoyant) bubble in a quiescent fluid (2D and 3D) and a stationary bubble in a stationary fluid (2D and 3D). The computed results are compared with results obtained with the Mass-Conserving Level-Set method of [8], benchmark results of [5] and other references. The compressive scheme accurately conserves mass, but shows large spurious currents for the test cases with surface tension. Additionally, the error in the predicted rise velocity of the gas bubble is large in comparison with that of the MCLS method.Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc