A PLIC–VOF method suited for adaptive moving grids

Abstract

This paper presents a new variant of the volume-of-fluid (VOF) color function C advection algorithm based on the piecewise linear interface construction (PLIC) method suitable for use on general moving grids. From several existing methods for reconstructing the linear interface we adopted the least squares volume-of-fluid interface reconstruction algorithm (LVIRA) which can be easily implemented on general grids. The distinguishing step in the advection algorithm that takes into account the grid movement is the construction of the donating region containing the fluid passing through corresponding cell-faces in a single time-step. The donating regions are constructed utilizing fluid velocity in cell corners relative to grid (corner) velocities. The method is conservative as it complies with the space conservation law (SCL) and requires a proper definition of the grid velocities and fluxes due to the grid movement. The accuracy of the presented advection algorithm is assessed with standard test cases. It is comparable with other PLIC based algorithms on fixed grids, while the applicability on adaptive moving grids enables a considerable reduction in the number of grid cells.