DNS of Marangoni effects on a suspension of droplets in microgravity using the unstructured conservative level-set method

Abstract

The multi-marker unstructured conservative level-set (UCLS) method for two-phase flow with variable surface tension is used for the Direct Numerical Simulation of thermocapillary-driven motion of a bi-dispersed suspension of droplets in microgravity. The so-called Marangoni stresses induced by surface tension gradients on the interface lead to a coupling of the momentum transport equation and the thermal energy transport equation. The finite-volume method discretizes the transport equations on three-dimensional collocated unstructured meshes. The UCLS method performs interface capturing with mass conservation of the fluid phases, whereas the multiple marker approach circumvents the numerical coalescence of fluid particles. The fractional-step projection method solves the pressure-velocity coupling. Unstructured flux-limiters schemes discretize the convective term in transport equations. Numerical and physical findings are reported.