SIMAI 2025

Development of a consistent diffuse interface framework for phase-change at high-density ratios

  • Weber, Lorenz (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT))
  • Mukherjee, Aritra (Norwegian University of Science and Technolog)
  • Class, Andreas (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT))
  • Brandt, Luca (Politecnico di Torino)

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Interface-resolved simulations of flows involving phase change have greatly interested both academia and industry. However, the physical properties of many common fluids pose high requirements in terms of spatial and temporal resolution. Consequently, developing efficient simulation frameworks is crucial for enabling large-scale simulations. In recent years, second-order phase field models for capturing the phase interface have continued to gain attention as they offer a great scalability potential. Yet only a few studies explore the application to boiling flows. This study presents a highly sophisticated framework which aims to apply the accurate conservative diffuse interface (ACDI) method to boiling flow phenomena. The presentation is divided into two parts, i.e., (1) discussion of the key features offered by the developed solution scheme, and (2) presentation of simulation results and benchmarking. In detail, we make use of fast Fourier transformations, increasing the efficiency when solving the pressure Poisson equation. Additionally, the common coupling of the Navier-Stokes equation with the phase field model is reevaluated regarding the application to boiling phenomena. Lastly, we present a robust and fast phase change model specialized for the combination with the ACDI method. Further, the numerical framework is validated against a wide range of benchmark cases. We compare the accuracy of the present framework against various methods from the literature. For flows with and without phase change, we found significant improvements regarding the accuracy for simulating bubble dynamics and bubble growth.