A Level Set Method for Analysis of Film Boiling on an Immersed Solid Surface

Abstract

A numerical method is presented for simulating film boiling on an immersed (or irregularly shaped) solid surface. The level set formulation for tracking the phase interfaces is modified to include the effect of phase change at the liquid–vapor interface and to treat the no-slip condition at the fluid–solid interface. The boundary or matching conditions at the phase interfaces are accurately imposed by incorporating the ghost fluid approach based on a sharp-interface representation. The numerical method is tested through computations of bubble rise in a stationary liquid, single-phase fluid flow past a circular cylinder, and film boiling on a horizontal cylinder.

This work received support from NASA Microgravity Fluid Physics Program and the Micro Thermal System Research Center through the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation.