A comparative study of lattice Boltzmann and volume of fluid method for two-dimensional multiphase flows

Abstract

The volume of fluid (VOF) model of FLUENT and the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) are used to simulate two-phase flows. Both methods are validated for static and dynamic bubble test cases and then compared to experimental results. The VOF method does not reduce the spurious currents of the static droplet test and does not satisfy the Laplace law for small droplets at the acceptable level, as compared with the LBM. For single bubble flows, simulations are executed for various Eotvos numbers, Morton numbers and Reynolds numbers, and the results of both methods agree well with the experiments in the case of low Eotvos numbers. For high Eotvos numbers, the VOF results deviated from the experiments. For multiple bubbles, the bubble flow characteristics are related by the wake of the leading bubble. The coaxial and oblique coalescence of the bubbles are simulated successfully and the subsequent results are presented. In conclusion, the LBM performs better than the VOF method.