Seminar: Modeling and Simulation of Interfacial Flows
Marianne Francois
Research Scientist, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Friday, September 19, 2014
1:30 p.m.
John W. Schwada (SCOB) 210, Tempe Campus [map]
Abstract:
Interfacial flows are multi-material flows comprised of two or more immiscible materials demarcated by interfaces. They are ubiquitous in nature and are encountered in several industrial applications. Examples of applications include materials processing (e.g. casting), inertial confinement fusion and solvent extraction. We are interested in the development of accurate numerical methods for high-fidelity simulations of interfacial flows. For such simulation, the position of the interface between the fluids and the interface physics (like surface tension) needs to be predicted as part of the solution of the flow equations. In addition, the discontinuity in fluid density, viscosity and species concentration at the interface presents additional numerical challenges. Our framework is the volume tracking method, a pure Eulerian method that represents the interface with volume fraction and intrinsically ensures mass conservation. However, since the interface is not explicitly tracked by marker points, estimation of the geometric properties of the interface is challenging. In this talk, I will present the balanced-force volume tracking algorithm for modeling interfacial flow with surface tension and discuss accurate ways to estimate interfacial curvature. Then I will present a global embedded interface formulation to model the jump conditions in species concentration across the interface. Numerical test cases will be given to illustrate the strength of the methods.
Biosketch:
Marianne Francois is a research scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and currently the deputy group leader of T-3, the Fluid Dynamics and Solid Mechanics group in the Theoretical Division. Her research focuses on the development of numerical methods for incompressible and compressible interfacial flows with heat and mass transfer, with application to biofluids, spray cooling, material processing, fluid mixing, hydrodynamic instabilities, and nuclear energy. She is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Fluids Engineering Division, Multiphase Flow committee. Francois received her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida in 2002.
Please contact Durella O’Donnell at Durella.ODonnell@asu.edu for more information, or if you would like to meet with Marianne Francois while she is on campus.
