Abstract
In this work, we study the influence of the contact angle boundary condition on 3D CFD simulations of the bubble generation process occurring in a capillary T-junction. Numerical simulations have been performed with the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics solver ANSYS Fluent v15.0.7. Experimental results serve as a reference to validate numerical results for four independent parameters: the bubble generation frequency, volume, velocity and length. CFD simulations accurately reproduce experimental results both from qualitative and quantitative points of view. Numerical results are very sensitive to the gas-liquid-wall contact angle boundary conditions, confirming that this is a fundamental parameter to obtain accurate CFD results for simulations of this kind of problems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Afkhami, S., Zaleski, S., Bussmann, M.: A mesh-dependent model for applying dynamic contact angles to VOF simulations. J. Comput. Phys. 228, 5370–5389 (2009)
ANSYS Academic Research: Release 15.0,7, Help System, ANSYS, Inc (2014)
Arias, S., González-Cinca, R.: Analysis of the characteristic lengths in the bubble and slug flow regimes generated in a capillary T-junction. Int. J. Multiphase Flow 87, 167–174 (2016)
Arias, S., Montlaur, A.: Numerical study and experimental comparison of two-phase flow generation in a T-junction. AIAA J. 55(5), 1565–1574 (2017)
Arias, S., Ruiz, X., Ramírez-Piscina, L., Casademunt, J., González-Cinca, R.: Experimental study of a microchannel bubble injector for microgravity applications. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 21, 107–118 (2009)
Arias, S., González-Cinca, R., Ruiz, X., Ramírez-Piscina, L., Casademunt, J.: Characterization of the performance of a minibubble generator in conditions relevant to microgravity. Colloids Surf. A Physicochem. Eng. Asp. 365, 52–57 (2010)
Arias, S., Legendre, D., González-Cinca, R.: Numerical simulation of bubble generation in a T-junction. Comput. Fluids 56, 49–60 (2012)
Baroud, C.N., Willaime, H.: Multiphase flows in microfluidics. C. R. Phys. 5, 547–555 (2004)
Bhunia, A., Pais, S.C., Kamotani, Y., Kim, I.: Bubble formation in a coflow configuration in normal and reduced gravity. AIChE J. 44, 1499–1509 (1998)
Brackbill, J.U., Kothe, D., Zemach, C.: A continuum method for modeling of surface tension. J. Comput. Phys. 100, 335–354 (1992)
Carrera, J., Ruiz, X., Ramírez-Piscina, L., Casademunt, J., Dreyer, M.: Generation of a monodisperse microbubble jet in microgravity. AIAA J. 46(8), 2010–2019 (2008)
Di Marco, P., Grassi, W., Memoli, G., Takamasa, T., Tomiyama, A., Hosokawa, S.: Influence of electric field on single gas-bubble growth and detachment in microgravity. Int. J. Multiph. Flows. 29, 559–578 (2003)
Forrester, S.E., Rielly, C.D.: Bubble formation from cylindrical, flat and concave sections exposed to a strong liquid crossflow. Chem. Eng. Sci. 53, 1517–1527 (1998)
Guo, Q., Ye, F., Guo, H., Ma, C.F.: Gas/water and heat management of PEM-based fuel cell and electrolyzer systems for space applications. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 29, 49–63 (2017)
Hirt, C.W., Brethour, J.M.: Moving contact lines on rough surfaces. In: 4th European Coating Symposium FloSci-Bib17-01 (2001)
Huh, C., Scriven, L.E.: Hydrodynamic model of steady movement of a solid/liquid/fluid contact line. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 35(1), 85–101 (1971)
Iacona, E., Herman, C., Chang, S., Liu, Z.: Electric field effect on bubble detachment in reduced gravity environment. Exp. Therm. Fluid Sci. 31, 121–126 (2006)
McQuillen, J., Colin, C., Fabre, J.: Ground-based gas-liquid flow research in microgravity conditions: state of knowledge. Space Forums 3, 165–203 (1998)
Malekzadeh, S., Roohi, E.: Investigation of different droplet formation regimes in a t-junction microchannel using the VOF technique in openFOAM. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 27, 231–243 (2015)
Ostrach, S.: Industrial processes influenced by gravity. NASA CR-182140 c- 21066-G (1988)
Pampering, O., Rath, H.J.: Influence of buoyancy on bubble formation at submerged orifices. Chem. Eng. Sci. 50, 3009–3024 (1995)
Rezkallah, K.S.: Weber number based flow-pattern maps for liquid-gas flows at microgravity. Int. J. Multiphase Flow 22(6), 1265–1270 (1996)
Rosengarten, G., Harvie, D.J.E., Cooper-White, J.: Contact angle effects on microdroplet deformation using CFD. Appl. Math. Model. 30, 1033–1042 (2006)
Schönfeld, F., Hardt, S.: Dynamic contact angles in CFD simulations. Comput. Fluids 38, 757–764 (2009)
Shi, Y., Tang, G.H., Xia, H.H.: Lattice Boltzmann simulation of droplet formation in t-junction and flow focusing devices. Comput. Fluids 90, 155–163 (2014)
Suo, M., Griffith, P.: Two-phase flow in capillary tubes. J. Basic Eng. 86, 576–582 (1964)
Yong-Qiang, L., Wen-Hui, C., Ling, L.: Numerical simulation of capillary flow in fan-shaped asymmetric interior corner under microgravity. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 29, 65–79 (2017)
Zuber, N., Findlay, J.: Average volumetric concentration in two-phase systems. J. Heat Transf. 87(4), 453–468 (1969)
Acknowledgements
This work has been financially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación (Project numbers ESP2016-79196-P and MTM2013-46313-R) and the Generalitat de Catalunya (Grant number 2017-SGR-1278).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arias, S., Montlaur, A. Influence of Contact Angle Boundary Condition on CFD Simulation of T-Junction. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 30, 435–443 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-018-9605-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-018-9605-x