Direct numerical simulation of bubble swarms with a parallel front-tracking method

Direct numerical simulations are performed to study the behaviour of an important class of dispersed multiphase flows, namely gas bubbles rising in a liquid. The numerical method combines a finite difference scheme for solving the Navier-Stokes equations with a front tracking method for following the gas-liquid interfaces. The size of the problem as well as the simulation time requirements necessitate the use of large parallel computers. Sample simulation results are presented illustrating the evolution of such systems and the dependence of statistical quantities on the gas volume fraction. The goal of these numerical experiments is to gain insight into fundamental properties of bubbly flows and support the development of simplified models.