ON THE VOLUME OF FLUID METHOD FOR MULTIPHASE FLUID FLOW SIMULATION

Abstract

Numerical study of multiphase fluid flows require mathematical methods for distinguishing interface between two fluids. The volume of fluid (VOF) method is one of such method which takes care of fluid shape in a local domain and reconstructs the interface from volume fraction of one fluid. Maintaining sharp interface during reconstruction is a challenging task and geometrical approach of VOF method better suits for incompressible fluids. This paper provides a complete mathematical discussion of extended form of VOF method using a approach known as piecewise linear interface calculation (PLIC). An analytical relation between volume fraction and interface position has been explored with the help of primitive geometrical shapes. The method with this analytical relation has been applied to multiphase fluid flow benchmark problems and found to be in good agreement.