A hybrid particle-mesh method for viscous, incompressible, multiphase flows

A hybrid method to simulate unsteady multiphase flows in which a sharp interface separates incompressible fluids of different density and viscosity is described. One phase is represented by moving particles and the other phase is defined on stationary mesh. The flow field is discretized by a conservative finite volume approximation on the stationary mesh, and the interface is automatically captured by the distribution of particles moving through the stationary mesh. The effects of surface tension and wall adhesion are evaluated by the continuum surface force model. The different phases are treated as one fluid with variable material properties. Advection of fluid properties such as density and viscosity is done by following the motion of the particles. The method simplifies the calculation of interface interaction, enables accurate modeling of two- and three-dimensional multiphase flows and does not impose any modeling restrictions on the dynamic evolutions of fluid interfaces having surface tension. Several two-dimensional numerical simulations are given to illustrate the efficiency of the hybrid method. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.