Multiphase lattice Boltzmann flux solver for incompressible multiphase flows with large density ratio

A multiphase lattice Boltzmann flux solver (MLBFS) is proposed in this paper for incompressible multiphase flows with low- and large-density-ratios. In the solver, the flow variables at cell centers are given from the solution of macroscopic governing differential equations (Navier-Stokes equations recovered by multiphase lattice Boltzmann (LB) model) by the finite volume method. At each cell interface, the viscous and inviscid fluxes are evaluated simultaneously by local reconstruction of solution for the standard lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE). The forcing terms in the governing equations are directly treated by the finite volume discretization. The phase interfaces are captured by solving the phase-field Cahn-Hilliard equation with a fifth order upwind scheme. Unlike the conventional multiphase LB models, which restrict their applications on uniform grids with fixed time step, the MLBFS has the capability and advantage to simulate multiphase flows on non-uniform grids. The proposed solver is validated by several benchmark problems, such as two-phase co-current flow, Taylor-Couette flow in an annulus, Rayleigh-Taylor instability, and droplet splashing on a thin film at density ratio of 1000 with Reynolds numbers ranging from 20 to 1000. Numerical results show the reliability of the proposed solver for multiphase flows with high density ratio and high Reynolds number. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.