Numerical investigation of the steady viscous flow past a stationary deformable bubble

Abstract

A method for solving the Navier–Stokes equations in domains with moving boundaries is proposed. By means of a coordinate transformation, the region under consideration is converted to a region with known boundaries which are coordinate surfaces. An appropriate difference scheme with an algorithm for its implementation is constructed. The method is applied to the case of steady incompressible viscous flow past a resting deformable bubble. Results are obtained for wide ranges for Reynolds and Weber numbers and compared with other theoretical or experimental works in the common regions for the governing parameters. A separation of the flow and the occurrence of a toroidal vortex in the rear of the bubble is observed and verified through a number of computations. Typical flow patterns as well as a variety of practically important relations between the parameters of the flow are shown graphically.