A mesoscale Eulerian numerical method for short-range repulsion in interfacial dynamics
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The dynamics of bubble and droplet coalescence and repulsion are critical in a variety of natural and industrial multiphase systems. Their direct numerical simulation (DNS) remains challenging due to the multiscale nature of interfacial interactions. This study presents a mesoscale numerical approach that incorporates a repulsive disjoining pressure into an Eulerian framework to model near-contact interactions without explicitly resolving nanoscale forces. The method computes interfacial distances through a transport equation, enabling efficient and scalable implementation across parallel computing architectures. Unlike traditional marker-based or interface-tracking methods, the approach is independent of the number of bubbles or droplets in the domain. The method is validated on representative test cases, including droplet collisions and static foam networks, and is shown to accurately capture both dynamic inertial effects and quasi-static configurations. Notably, it enables DNS of wet foams with reduced liquid fractions compared to conventional level-set methods where repulsive interactions are not accounted for. This approach lays the foundation for simulating more realistic foam structures and analyzing destabilization phenomena such as drainage and coarsening, thus contributing to the predictive modeling of complex gas–liquid systems.
Language: English
Subfield: Computational Mechanics
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,900
OpenAlex ID: W4415437107