An accurate and efficient multiphase solver based on THINC scheme and adaptive mesh refinement

Abstract

This paper presents an accurate and efficient multiphase solver which is developed based on THINC/QQ (THINC method with quadratic surface representation and Gauss quadrature) scheme and AMR (adaptive mesh refinement) technique in the framework of OpenFOAM. In order to make consistent interpolation after the mesh refinement, a novel algorithm is proposed for the algebraic mapping of the volume fraction field in the child cells, which significantly improves the geometric faithfulness of mapped interface particularly for curved surface. Second-order schemes are used for the spatial and temporal discretization of momentum equations which further enhances the solution accuracy compared with interFoam. Using THINC/QQ scheme with AMR technique in the multiphase simulation, the so-called thincFoam delivers high fidelity solutions in the vicinity of interface while largely improving the computational efficiency. As verified by various benchmark tests in 2D and 3D, such as bubble rising, dam-break and propagation of solitary wave, it convinces that the numerical results predicted by thincFoam are in excellent agreement with experimental data and other reference solutions. Thus, the present solver possesses a promising prospect in capturing complicated interfaces undergoing large deformations and topological changes for the simulation of nonlinear interaction between multiphase flows with solid structures.