A numerical approach for the direct computation of flows including fluid-solid interaction: Modeling contact angle, film rupture, and dewetting

Abstract

In this paper, we present a computationally efficient method for including fluid-solid interactions into direct numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations. This method is found to be as powerful as our earlier formulation [K. Mahady et al., "A volume of fluid method for simulating fluid/fluid interfaces in contact with solid boundaries," J. Comput. Phys. 294, 243 (2015)], while outperforming the earlier method in terms of computational efficiency. The performance and efficacy of the presented method are demonstrated by computing contact angles of droplets at equilibrium. Furthermore, we study the instability of films due to destabilizing fluid-solid interactions, and discuss the influence of contact angle and inertial effects on film breakup. In particular, direct simulation results show an increase in the final characteristic length scales when compared to the predictions of a linear stability analysis, suggesting significant influence of nonlinear effects. Our results also show that emerging length scales differ, depending on a number of physical dimensions considered.