Numerical Analysis of a Single Bubble with VOF Method.

In order to examine the feasibility of direct simulation of bubbly flows, the applicability of the VOF (volume of fluid) method to the analyses of a single rising bubble was examined in this study. Calculated bubble shapes and terminal velocities under wide ranges of Eotvos number and Morton number were compared with the experimental data summarized by Grace et al. Except for the cases when bubble shapes are spherical-cap and skirted, the VOF method could predict them well by assigning only eight cells to the bubble diameter. Hence, it was confirmed that some modification of this method will enable us to simulate bubbly flows directly under a wide-range of flow conditions. Moreover, the relation between a bubble shape and velocity distribution was examined within the ranges in which the VOF method is valid. It was found that the secondary vortex appearing in wobbling bubbles induces the velocity component normal to the bubble interface, and this velocity is one of the causes of the wobbling shape of the bubble.