A Comparative Study of Two Different Density Estimation Techniques for Multi-Phase Flow Simulations Using SPH

In this paper, an integrated smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) model for complex interfacial flows with large density ratios is developed. The discrete continuity equation and acceleration equation are obtained by considering the time derivative of the volume of particle and Eckart's continuum Lagrangian equation. A continuum surface force model is used to meet the fact that surface force may not be distributed uniformly on each side of the interface. An improved boundary condition is imposed to model wall free‐slip and no‐slip condition for interfacial flows with large density ratios. Particle shifting algorithm (PSA) is added for interfacial flows by imposing the normal correction near the interface, called as Interface‐PSA. Then four representative numerical examples, including droplet deformation, Rayleigh‐Taylor instability, dam breaking, and bubble rising, are presented and compared well with reference data. It is demonstrated that inherent interfacial flow physics can be well captured, including surface tension and the dynamic evolution of the complex interfaces.

Comparative study of WCSPH, EISPH and explicit incompressible-compressible SPH (EICSPH) for multi-phase flow with high density difference

Heat transfer and phase change in multiphase media involve complex behavior such as multi-physics coupling, unsteady interfaces, and boundary generation/disappearance. The smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is used to simulate multicomponent problems (initially solid material surrounded by a fluid) characterized by heat transfer, solid–liquid phase change, and multiphase flow. First, the interface behavior of the melted liquids and ambient fluids are simulated by a multiphase SPH model, where corrected algorithms and techniques are adopted to provide a stable simulation for the interface with a large density ratio. The wetting effect of the solid surface by melted liquids is considered by extending the continuum surface force model to three phases including solid, melted liquid and ambient fluid. Second, a thermal dynamics model is incorporated with the multiphase SPH model. The solid–liquid phase change occurs in a small temperature interval in which the latent heat is incorporated using the equivalent heat capacity. Third, the numerical model is validated using several benchmark examples. Five specially configured cases are simulated to demonstrate the robustness, adaptability, and stability of the model. The intriguing phenomena of evolution of the fluid interface of melted liquids, accumulation of thin-layer liquids, and melted droplet formation are reproduced.

Simulating bubble rising in viscous liquids is challenging because of the large liquid-to-gas density ratio and complex topological evolution of the gas-liquid interface. In this study, a conservative phase-field model is employed to accurately track the interface during bubble rising, and the lattice Boltzmann model is used to determine the flow field driven by the buoyancy force and the surface tension force. To facilitate large-scale three-dimensional simulations, a parallel-adaptive mesh refinement algorithm is developed to reduce the computing overhead. The simulated bubble shapes under different configurations are compared with the shape chart through experiments [D. Bhaga and M. E. Weber, “Bubbles in viscous liquids: shapes, wakes, and velocities,” J. Fluid Mech. 105, 61–85 (1981)]. The influence of the numerical parameters (including domain size, surface tension, liquid viscosity, gravity, and density ratio) on the bubble dynamics is investigated, which demonstrates the capability of the current numerical scheme in simulating multiphase flow. Furthermore, complex topology changes including the bubble coalescence, splitting, and interplay with obstacles (i.e., squeeze deformation and bubble splitting) are simulated and compared in different cases, i.e., with different Reynolds, Eötvös, and Morton numbers. The effect of the initial bubble spacing on the coalescence of the two bubbles and the influence of boundary conditions on multiple bubble dynamics are investigated. When the bubbles can be completely blocked by the obstacle is quantified in terms of the obstacle width. Numerical results validate the robustness of the present numerical scheme in simulating multiphase flow.

The standard formulation of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) assumes that the local density distribution is differentiable. This assumption is used to derive the spatial derivatives of other quantities. However, this assumption breaks down at the contact discontinuity. At the contact discontinuity, the density of the low-density side is overestimated while that of the high-density side is underestimated. As a result, the pressure of the low (high) density side is over (under) estimated. Thus, unphysical repulsive force appears at the contact discontinuity, resulting in the effective surface tension. This tension suppresses fluid instabilities. In this paper, we present a new formulation of SPH, which does not require the differentiability of density. Instead of the mass density, we adopt the internal energy density (pressure), and its arbitrary function, which are smoothed quantities at the contact discontinuity, as the volume element used for the kernel integration. We call this new formulation density independent SPH (DISPH). It handles the contact discontinuity without numerical problems. The results of standard tests such as the shock tube, Kelvin-Helmholtz and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, point like explosion, and blob tests are all very favorable to DISPH. We conclude that DISPH solved most of known difficulties of the standard SPH, without introducing additional numerical diffusion or breaking the exact force symmetry or energy conservation. Our new SPH includes the formulation proposed by Ritchie & Thomas (2001) as a special case. Our formulation can be extended to handle a non-ideal gas easily.

Based on the principle of virtual works, a multiphase smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) model is further developed from the foundation of Hu X Y et al. (2006) and Grenier N et al. (2009). In the present model, the surface tension force implementation suitable for the multiphase flows with a large density ratio is applied, and this allows a good continuity at the multiphase interface. Artificial displacement correction is applied to keep the particles distributing uniformly in the whole flow field, and therefore any artificial viscous term is never needed; this is very important in the numerical simulation of viscous flows since the introduction of artificial viscosity changes the Reynolds number. Background pressure and interface sharpness force are added in the equation of state and the equation of momentum respectively to ensure the multiphase interface stability and smoothness; this is essential in the simulation of multiphase flows with large density difference at the multiphase interface. Two types of viscosity expressions suitable for multiphase flows are introduced and analyzed; the conclusion is that the formula proposed by Morris et al. (1997) and its similarly derived forms can give more accurate results. In the numerical validations, an oscillating droplet test is applied first to confirm the accuracy of the surface tension model and good results are achieved. This demonstrates that the artificial displacement and the interface sharp force will make negligible effects to the surface tension implementation. After that, two classic quantitative benchmarks of rising bubbles are simulated and the results of SPH agree well with the reference data. Moreover, in the two numerical benchmarks, the effect of the artificial displacement, the choice of the viscosity expression, and the type of the kernel function are compared and finally an optimal combination of these numerical aspects is recommended. Based on the above numerical investigations, the splitting process of an initially circular bubble is simulated and the numerical results agree well with the experimental data. In the last numerical case, the process of chasing and merging between two rising bubbles in vertical direction is simulated, based on which the mechanisms of these interesting interactions between two rising bubbles are analyzed. It is demonstrated in the present work that further improved multiphase SPH model may provide a potential method for the research of bubble dynamics.

In the subsurface, fluids play a critical role by transporting dissolved minerals, colloids, and contaminants (sometimes over long distances); by mediating dissolution and precipitation processes; and by enabling chemical transformations in solution and at mineral surfaces. Although the complex geometries of fracture apertures, fracture networks, and pore spaces may make it difficult to accurately predict fluid flow in saturated (single‐phase) subsurface systems, well‐developed methods are available. The simulation of multiphase fluid flow in the subsurface is much more challenging because of the large density and/or viscosity ratios found in important applications (water/air in the vadose zone; water/oil, water/gas, gas/oil, and water/oil/gas in hydrocarbon reservoirs; water/air/nonaqueous phase liquids (nonaqueous phase liquids/dense nonaqueous phase liquids) in contaminated vadose zone systems; and gas/molten rock in volcanic systems, for example). In addition, the complex behavior of fluid‐fluid‐solid contact lines and their impact on dynamic contact angles must also be taken into account and coupled with the fluid flow. Here we review the methods that are currently being used to simulate pore‐scale multiphase fluid flow and reactive transport in fractured and porous media. After the introduction, the review begins with an overview of the fundamental physics of multiphase fluids flow followed by a more detailed discussion of the complex dynamic behavior of contact lines and contact angles, an important barrier to accurate pore‐scale modeling and simulation. The main part of the review focuses on five different approaches: pore network models, lattice gas and lattice Boltzmann methods, Monte Carlo methods, particle methods (molecular dynamics, dissipative particle dynamics, and smoothed particle hydrodynamics), and traditional grid‐based computational fluid dynamics coupled with interface tracking and a contact angle model. Finally, the review closes with a discussion of future trends and challenges.

An overview of smoothed particle hydrodynamics for simulating multiphase flow

Numerical study of single bubble rising dynamics for the variability of moderate Reynolds and sidewalls influence: A bi-phase SPH approach

A 6M digital twin for modeling and simulation in subsurface reservoirs

Application of smoothed particle hydrodynamics to the simulation of multiphase flow in complex fracture apertures

This seminar explains an enhanced version of the well-known SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics) open-source code DualSPHysics for the simulation of free-surface fluid flows, leading to the DualSPHysics+ code. The enhancements are made through incorporation of several schemes with respect to stability, accuracy and energy/volume conservation issues in simulating incompressible free-surface fluid flows within the weakly compressible SPH formalism. The Optimized Particle Shifting (OPS) scheme is implemented to improve the accuracy of particle shifting vectors in the free-surface region. To mitigate energy dissipation and maintain consistency, the artificial viscosity in δ-SPH is substituted with a Riemann stabilization term, leading to the δR-SPH. The Velocity divergence Error Mitigating (VEM) and Volume Conservation Shifting (VCS) schemes are adopted in DualSPHysics+ to mitigate the velocity divergence error and improve the volume conservation, and hence to enhance the resolution of the continuity equation. To further reduce both the instantaneous and accumulated errors in velocity divergence, a Hyperbolic/Parabolic Divergence Cleaning (HPDC) scheme is incorporated in addition to the VEM scheme. The implementations of the introduced schemes on both CPU and GPU-based versions of the DualSPHysics+ code along with details on the compilation, running and computational performance are presented. Validations in terms of accuracy, energy conservation and convergence of DualSPHysics+ are shown via several relevant benchmarks. It is demonstrated that a better velocity divergence error cleaning in both instantaneous and accumulated errors can be achieved by the combination of VEM and HPDC. Meanwhile, the excessive energy dissipation by the artificial viscosity is shown to be suppressed by adopting the Riemann stabilization term. Enhanced resolution of the continuity equation along with improved energy conservation of DualSPHysics+ advance the SPH-based simulation of incompressible free-surface fluid flows.

A number of particle models that are suitable for simulating multiphase fluid flow and biogeochemical processes have been developed during the last few decades. Here we discuss three of them: a microscopic model – molecular dynamics; a mesoscopic model – dissipative particle dynamics; and a macroscopic model – smoothed particle hydrodynamics. Particle methods are robust and versatile, and it is relatively easy to add additional physical, chemical and biological processes into particle codes. However, the computational efficiency of particle methods is low relative to continuum methods. Multiscale particle methods and hybrid (particle–particle and particle–continuum) methods are needed to improve computational efficiency and make effective use of emerging computational capabilities. These new methods are under development.

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a Lagrangian meshless particle method. It is one of the best method for simulating violent free surface flows in fluids and solving large fluid deformations. Dam breaking is a typical example of these problems. The basis of SPH was reviewed, including some techniques for governing equation resolution, such as the stepping method and the boundary handling method. Then numerical results of a dam breaking simulation were discussed, and the benefits of concepts like artificial viscosity and position correction were analyzed in detail. When compared with dam breaking simulated by the volume of fluid (VOF) method, the wave profile generated by SPH had good agreement, but the pressure had only reasonable agreement. Improving pressure results is clearly an important next step for research.

A generalized hybrid smoothed particle hydrodynamics–peridynamics algorithm with a novel Lagrangian mapping for solution and failure analysis of fluid–structure interaction problems