Enhanced numerical approaches for modeling insoluble surfactants in two-phase flows with the diffuse-interface method

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Yamashita, Shu, Matsushita, Shintaro, Suekane, Tetsuya
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Yamashita, Shu
Matsushita, Shintaro
Suekane, Tetsuya
author_facet Yamashita, Shu
Matsushita, Shintaro
Suekane, Tetsuya
contents Surfactants reside at the interface of two-phase flows and significantly influence the flow dynamics. Numerical simulations are essential for a comprehensive understanding of such surfactant-laden flows and require a method that can accurately simulate surfactant transport along the interface. In this study, we focus on interfacial transport models for insoluble surfactants based on the diffuse-interface method and propose two approaches to improve their accuracy: (a) adopting a formulation that avoids the spatial derivatives of variables with sharp gradients and (b) allowing the width of the delta function to be specified independently of the interface width. These approaches are simple and practical in that they do not lead to significant increases in computational cost, implementation complexity, or degradation of interface-capturing accuracy. Moreover, they preserve the discrete conservation of both fluid and surfactant mass. We conduct a series of numerical tests to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. Finally, we present a challenging test case that is difficult to solve accurately and has not been previously discussed. We expect this case to serve as a valuable benchmark for evaluating and comparing the performances of various methods proposed in the literature.
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publishDate 2026
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spellingShingle Enhanced numerical approaches for modeling insoluble surfactants in two-phase flows with the diffuse-interface method
Yamashita, Shu
Matsushita, Shintaro
Suekane, Tetsuya
Fluid Dynamics
Computational Physics
Surfactants reside at the interface of two-phase flows and significantly influence the flow dynamics. Numerical simulations are essential for a comprehensive understanding of such surfactant-laden flows and require a method that can accurately simulate surfactant transport along the interface. In this study, we focus on interfacial transport models for insoluble surfactants based on the diffuse-interface method and propose two approaches to improve their accuracy: (a) adopting a formulation that avoids the spatial derivatives of variables with sharp gradients and (b) allowing the width of the delta function to be specified independently of the interface width. These approaches are simple and practical in that they do not lead to significant increases in computational cost, implementation complexity, or degradation of interface-capturing accuracy. Moreover, they preserve the discrete conservation of both fluid and surfactant mass. We conduct a series of numerical tests to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. Finally, we present a challenging test case that is difficult to solve accurately and has not been previously discussed. We expect this case to serve as a valuable benchmark for evaluating and comparing the performances of various methods proposed in the literature.
title Enhanced numerical approaches for modeling insoluble surfactants in two-phase flows with the diffuse-interface method
topic Fluid Dynamics
Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.13076