Volume Tracking Simulation of Bubble Motion with Low Spatial Resolution

Abstract

The number of computational cells assigned to a small bubble is liable to be small in a volume tracking simulation of a poly-dispersed bubbly flow. The volume tracking method is, therefore, expected to at least give qualitatively reasonable predictions of bubble motion without assigning many cells. In this study, bubble motions in stagnant water and shear flows are simulated with low spatial resolutions using a volume tracking method proposed in our previous study. As a result, we confirm that (1) the method can yield correct characteristics of rising velocity and lateral motion of bubbles, and (2) the bubble volume and interface sharpness are kept well even after a bubble had experienced a large deformation in a strong shear flow.

Keywords

• gas-liquid two-phase flow
• volume tracking method
• bubble
• spatial resolution
• numerical simulation