A generalized coupled level set/volume-of-fluid/ghost fluid method for detailed simulation of gas-liquid flows

A generalized coupled level set/volume-of-fluid/ghost fluid method for the detailed simulation of gas-liquid flows is proposed in this paper. The interface is captured by the coupled level set and volume-of-fluid method, where the level set method is used to compute normal vector and curvature accurately, and the volume-of-fluid method is used to conserve the global volume or mass. The ghost fluid method is also used for discretization across the interface. The novelty of the present approach lies in that a generalized formulation for the conversion between the level set function and the volume-of-fluid function is proposed in a simple and efficient manner. Three benchmarks, including Zalesak's disk, two-dimensional deformation and three-dimensional deformation, are used for validation and verification. It shows that excellent agreement is achieved, and the present method has first-order accuracy. The current method is further applied to the simulations of droplet dynamics, rising bubbles, head-on droplet collision and liquid jet breakup, demonstrating the capability to accurately capture the interface. (c) 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.