Multi-GPU Scaling of a Conservative Weakly Compressible Solver for Large-Scale Two-Phase Flow Simulation

Abstract

To address the demand for high-performance large-scale simulation of two-phase flows, a momentum-conserving weakly compressible Navier-Stokes solver with multi-GPU computation is proposed. Following the principle of consistent transport, the phase-field model and VOF method are coupled with the momentum equation respectively. Combined with the evolving pressure projection method to damp the acoustic wave, this solver aims at a robust and accurate computation of violent two-phase flows with a high density ratio, while taking advantage of fully explicit time integration of the weakly compressible Navier-Stokes equations. Factors affecting the performance and scalability of multi-GPU computing, including domain partitioning, communication hiding, and solver choice, are discussed and analyzed. Finally, the conservative solver is used to simulate the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, milk crown and liquid jet atomization problems. Accurate and delicate evolution process of the two-phase interface is demonstrated.