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FreeSurfaceModelingMethods

Aninterfacebetweenagasandliquidisoftenreferredtoasafreesurface.Thereasonfor
thefreedesignationarisesfromthelargedifferenceinthedensitiesofthegasandliquid
(e.g.,theratioofdensityforwatertoairis1000).Alowgasdensitymeansthatitsinertia
cangenerallybeignoredcomparedtothatoftheliquid.Inthissensetheliquidmoves
independently,orfreely,withrespecttothegas.Theonlyinfluenceofthegasisthe
pressureitexertsontheliquidsurface.Inotherwords,thegasliquidsurfaceisnot
constrained,butfree.
InheattransfertextsthetermStephenProblemisoftenusedtodescribefreeboundary
problems.Inthiscase,however,theboundariesarephaseboundaries,e.g.,theboundary
betweeniceandwaterthatchangesinresponsetotheheatsuppliedfromconvectivefluid
currents.
Whateverthename,itshouldbeobviousthatthepresenceofafreeormovingboundary
introducesseriouscomplicationsforanytypeofanalysis.Forallbutthesimplestof
problems,itisnecessarytoresorttonumericalsolutions.Eventhen,freesurfacesrequire
theintroductionofspecialmethodstodefinetheirlocation,theirmovement,andtheir
influenceonaflow.
Inthefollowingdiscussionwewillbrieflyreviewthetypesofnumericalapproachesthat
havebeenusedtomodelfreesurfaces,indicatingtheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofeach
method.Regardlessofthemethodemployed,therearethreeessentialfeaturesneededto
properlymodelfreesurfaces:
1.Aschemeisneededtodescribetheshapeandlocationofasurface,
2.Analgorithmisrequiredtoevolvetheshapeandlocationwithtime,and
3.Freesurfaceboundaryconditionsmustbeappliedatthesurface.

LagrangianGridMethods
Conceptually,thesimplestmeansofdefiningandtrackingafreesurfaceistoconstructa

Lagrangiangridthatisimbeddedinandmoveswiththefluid.Manyfiniteelementmethods
usethisapproach.Becausethegridandfluidmovetogether,thegridautomaticallytracks
freesurfaces.
Atasurfaceitisnecessarytomodifytheapproximatingequationstoincludetheproper
boundaryconditionsandtoaccountforthefactthatfluidexistsonlyononesideofthe
boundary.Ifthisisnotdone,asymmetriesdevelopthateventuallydestroytheaccuracyofa
simulation.
TheprincipallimitationofLagrangianmethodsisthattheycannottracksurfacesthatbreak
apartorintersect.Evenlargeamplitudesurfacemotionscanbedifficulttotrackwithout
introducingregriddingtechniquessuchastheArbitraryLagrangianEulerian(ALE)method.
References1970and1974maybeconsultedforearlyexamplesoftheseapproaches.
Theremainingfreesurfacemethodsdiscussedhereuseafixed,Euleriangridasthebasisfor
computationssothatmorecomplicatedsurfacemotionsmaybetreated.

SurfaceHeightMethod
Lowamplitudesloshing,shallowwaterwaves,andotherfreesurfacemotionsinwhichthe
surfacedoesnotdeviatetoofarfromhorizontal,canbedescribedbytheheight,H,ofthe
surfacerelativetosomereferenceelevation.Timeevolutionoftheheightisgovernedbythe
kinematicequation,where(u,v,w)arefluidvelocitiesinthe(x,y,z)directions.Thisequation
isamathematicalexpressionofthefactthatthesurfacemustmovewiththefluid:

Finitedifferenceapproximationstothisequationareeasytoimplement.Further,onlythe
heightvaluesatasetofhorizontallocationsmustberecordedsothememoryrequirements
forathreedimensionalnumericalsolutionareextremelysmall.Finally,theapplicationof
freesurfaceboundaryconditionsisalsosimplifiedbytheconditiononthesurfacethatit
remainsnearlyhorizontal.ExamplesofthistechniquecanbefoundinReferences1971and
1975.

MarkerandCell(MAC)Method
Theearliestnumericalmethoddevisedfortimedependent,freesurface,flowproblemswas
theMarkerandCell(MAC)method(seeRef.1965).Thisschemeisbasedonafixed,
Euleriangridofcontrolvolumes.Thelocationoffluidwithinthegridisdeterminedbyaset
ofmarkerparticlesthatmovewiththefluid,butotherwisehavenovolume,massorother
properties.

Gridcellscontainingmarkersareconsideredoccupiedbyfluid,whilethosewithoutmarkers
areempty(orvoid).Afreesurfaceisdefinedtoexistinanygridcellthatcontainsparticles
andthatalsohasatleastoneneighboringgridcellthatisvoid.Thelocationandorientation
ofthesurfacewithinthecellwasnotpartoftheoriginalMACmethod.
Evolutionofsurfaceswascomputedbymovingthemarkerswithlocallyinterpolatedfluid
velocities.Somespecialtreatmentswererequiredtodefinethefluidpropertiesinnewly
filledgridcellsandtocancelvaluesincellsthatareemptied.
Theapplicationoffreesurfaceboundaryconditionsconsistedofassigningthegaspressure
toallsurfacecells.Also,velocitycomponentswereassignedtoalllocationsonor
immediatelyoutsidethesurfaceinsuchawayastoapproximateconditionsof
incompressibilityandzerosurfaceshearstress.
TheextraordinarysuccessoftheMACmethodinsolvingawiderangeofcomplicatedfree
surfaceflowproblemsiswelldocumentedinnumerouspublications.Onereasonforthis
successisthatthemarkersdonottracksurfacesdirectly,butinsteadtrackfluidvolumes.
Surfacesaresimplytheboundariesofthevolumes,andinthissensesurfacesmayappear,
mergeordisappearasvolumesbreakapartorcoalesce.
Avarietyofimprovementshavecontributedtoanincreaseintheaccuracyandapplicability
oftheoriginalMACmethod.Forexample,applyinggaspressuresatinterpolatedsurface
locationswithincellsimprovestheaccuracyinproblemsdrivenbyhydrostaticforces,while
theinclusionofsurfacetensionforcesextendsthemethodtoawiderclassofproblems(see
Refs.1969,1975).
Inspiteofitssuccesses,theMACmethodhasbeenusedprimarilyfortwodimensional
simulationsbecauseitrequiresconsiderablememoryandCPUtimetoaccommodatethe
necessarynumberofmarkerparticles.Typically,anaverageofabout16markersineach
gridcellisneededtoensureanaccuratetrackingofsurfacesundergoinglargedeformations.
Anotherlimitationofmarkerparticlesisthattheydontdoaverygoodjoboffollowingflow
processesinregionsinvolvingconverging/divergingflows.Markersareusuallyinterpreted
astrackingthecentroidsofsmallfluidelements.However,whenthosefluidelementsget
pulledintolongconvolutedstrands,themarkersmaynolongerbegoodindicatorsofthe
fluidconfiguration.Thiscanbeseen,forexample,atflowstagnationpointswheremarkers
pileupinonedirection,butaredrawnapartinaperpendiculardirection.Iftheyarepulled
apartenough(i.e.,furtherthanonegridcellwidth)unphysicalvoidsmaydevelopinthe
flow.

SurfaceMarkerMethod
OnewaytolimitthememoryandCPUtimeconsumptionofmarkersistokeepmarker

particlesonlyonsurfacesandnotintheinterioroffluidregions.Ofcourse,thisremovesthe
volumetrackingpropertyoftheMACmethodandrequiresadditionallogictodetermine
whenandhowsurfacesbreakapartorcoalesce.
Intwodimensionsthemarkerparticlesonasurfacecanbearrangedinalinearorderalong
thesurface.Thisarrangementintroducesseveraladvantages,suchasbeingabletomaintain
auniformparticlespacingandsimplifyingthecomputationofintersectionsbetween
differentsurfaces.Surfacemarkersalsoprovideaconvenientwaytolocatethesurface
withinagridcellfortheapplicationofboundaryconditions.
Unfortunately,inthreedimensionsthereisnosimplewaytoorderparticlesonsurfaces,
andthisleadstoamajorfailingofthesurfacemarkertechnique.Regionsmayexistwhere
surfacesareexpandingandnomarkersfillthespace.Withoutmarkerstheconfigurationof
thesurfaceisunknown,consequentlythereisnowaytoaddmarkers.
Reference1975containsexamplesthatshowtheadvantagesandlimitationsofthismethod.

VolumeofFluid(VOF)Method
Thelastmethodtobediscussedisbasedontheconceptofafluidvolumefraction.Theidea
forthisapproachoriginatedasawaytohavethepowerfulvolumetrackingfeatureofthe
MACmethodwithoutitslargememoryandCPUcosts.
Withineachgridcell(controlvolume)itiscustomarytoretainonlyonevalueforeachflow
quantity(e.g.,pressure,velocity,temperature,etc.)Forthisreasonitmakeslittlesenseto
retainmoreinformationforlocatingafreesurface.Followingthisreasoning,theuseofa
singlequantity,thefluidvolumefractionineachgridcell,isconsistentwiththeresolution
oftheotherflowquantities.
Ifweknowtheamountoffluidineachcellitispossibletolocatesurfaces,aswellas
determinesurfaceslopesandsurfacecurvatures.Surfacesareeasytolocatebecausetheylie
incellspartiallyfilledwithfluidorbetweencellsfulloffluidandcellsthathavenofluid.
Slopesandcurvaturesarecomputedbyusingthefluidvolumefractionsinneighboringcells.
Itisessentialtorememberthatthevolumefractionshouldbeastepfunction,i.e.,havinga
valueofeitheroneorzero.Knowingthis,thevolumefractionsinneighboringcellscanthen
beusedtolocatethepositionoffluid(anditsslopeandcurvature)withinaparticularcell.
FreesurfaceboundaryconditionsmustbeappliedasintheMACmethod,i.e.,assigningthe
propergaspressure(plusequivalentsurfacetensionpressure)aswellasdeterminingwhat
velocitycomponentsoutsidethesurfaceshouldbeusedtosatisfyazeroshearstress
conditionatthesurface.Inpractice,itissometimessimplertoassignvelocitygradients
insteadofvelocitycomponentsatsurfaces.

Finally,tocomputethetimeevolutionofsurfaces,atechniqueisneededtomovevolume
fractionsthroughagridinsuchawaythatthestepfunctionnatureofthedistributionis
retained.Thebasickinematicequationforfluidfractionsissimilartothatfortheheight
functionmethod,whereFisthefractionoffluidfunction:

Astraightforwardnumericalapproximationcannotbeusedtomodelthisequationbecause
numericaldiffusionanddispersionerrorsdestroythesharp,stepfunctionnatureoftheF
distribution.
ItiseasytoaccuratelymodelthesolutiontothisequationinonedimensionsuchthattheF
distributionretainsitszerooronevalues.Imaginefluidisfillingacolumnofcellsfrom
bottomtotop.Atsomeinstantthefluidinterfaceisinthemiddleregionofacellwhose
neighborbelowisfilledandwhoseneighboraboveisempty.Thefluidorientationinthe
neighboringcellsmeanstheinterfacemustbelocatedabovethebottomofthecellbyan
amountequaltothefluidfractioninthecell.Thenthecomputationofhowmuchfluidto
moveintotheemptycellabovecanbemodifiedtofirstallowtheemptyregionofthe
surfacecontainingcelltofillbeforetransmittingfluidontothenextcell.
Intwoorthreedimensionsasimilarprocedureofusinginformationfromneighboringcells
canbeused,butitisnotpossibletobeasaccurateasintheonedimensionalcase.The
problemwithmorethanonedimensionisthatanexactdeterminationoftheshapeand
locationofthesurfacecannotbemade.Nevertheless,thistechniquecanbemadetowork
wellasevidencedbythelargenumberofsuccessfulapplicationsthathavebeencompleted
usingtheVOFmethod.References1975,1980,and1981shouldbeconsultedfortheoriginal
workonthistechnique.
TheVOFmethodhasliveduptoitsgoalofprovidingamethodthatisaspowerfulasthe
MACmethodwithouttheoverheadofthatmethod.Itsuseofvolumetrackingasopposedto
surfacetrackingfunctionmeansthatitisrobustenoughtohandlethebreakupand
coalescenceoffluidmasses.Further,becauseitusesacontinuousfunctionitdoesnotsuffer
fromthelackofdivisibilitythatdiscreteparticlesexhibit.

VariableDensityApproximationtotheVOFMethod
OnefeatureoftheVOFmethodthatrequiresspecialtreatmentistheapplicationof
boundaryconditions.Asasurfacemovesthroughagrid,thecellscontainingfluid
continuallychange,whichmeansthatthesolutionregionisalsochanging.Atthefree
boundariesofthischangingregiontheproperfreesurfacestressconditionsmustalsobe
applied.

Updatingtheflowregionandapplyingboundaryconditionsisnotatrivialtask.Forthis
reasonsomeapproximationstotheVOFmethodhavebeenusedinwhichflowiscomputed
inbothliquidandgasregions.Typically,thisisdonebytreatingtheflowasasinglefluid
havingavariabledensity.TheFfunctionisusedtodefinethedensity.Anargumentisthen
madethatbecausetheflowequationsaresolvedinbothliquidandgasregionsthereisno
needtosetinterfacialboundaryconditions.
Unfortunately,thisapproachdoesnotworkverywellinpracticefortworeasons.First,the
sensitivityofagasregiontopressurechangesisgenerallymuchgreaterthanthatinliquid
regions.Thismakesitdifficulttoachieveconvergenceinthecoupledpressurevelocity
solution.SometimesverylargeCPUtimesarerequiredwiththistechnique.
Thesecond,andmoresignificant,reasonisassociatedwiththepossibilityofatangential
velocitydiscontinuityatinterfaces.Becauseoftheirdifferentresponsestopressure,gasand
liquidvelocitiesataninterfaceareusuallyquitedifferent.IntheVariableDensitymodel
interfacesaremovedwithanaveragevelocity,butthisoftenleadstounrealisticmovement
oftheinterfaces.
EventhoughtheVariableDensitymethodissometimesreferredtoasaVOFmethod,
becauseisusesafractionoffluidfunction,thisdesignationisincorrect.Foraccurately
trackingsharpliquidgasinterfacesitisnecessarytoactuallytreattheinterfaceasa
discontinuity.Thismeansitisnecessarytohaveatechniquetodefineaninterface
discontinuity,aswellasawaytoimposetheproperboundaryconditionsatthatinterface.It
isalsonecessarytouseaspecialnumericalmethodtotrackinterfacemotionsthoughagrid
withoutdestroyingitscharacterasadiscontinuity.

Summary
Abriefdiscussionofthevarioustechniquesusedtonumericallymodelfreesurfaceshas
beengivenherewithsomecommentsabouttheirrelativeadvantagesanddisadvantages.
Readersshouldnotbesurprisedtolearnthattherehavebeennumerousvariationsofthese
basictechniquesproposedovertheyears.Probablythemostsuccessfulofthemethodsis
theVOFtechniquebecauseofitssimplicityandrobustness.Itisthismethod,withsome
refinement,thatisusedintheFLOW3Dprogram.
AttemptstoimprovetheVOFmethodhavecenteredonbetter,moreaccurate,waystomove
fluidfractionsthroughagrid.Otherdevelopmentshaveattemptedtoapplythemethodin
connectionwithbodyfittedgridsandtoemploymorethanonefluidfractionfunctionin
ordertomodelmorethanonefluidcomponent.Adiscussionofthesedevelopmentsis
beyondthescopeofthisintroduction.

References
1965Harlow,F.H.andWelch,J.E.,NumericalCalculationofTimeDependentViscous

IncompressibleFlow,Phys.Fluids8,2182.
1969Daly,B.J.,NumericalStudyoftheEffectofSurfaceTensiononInterfaceInstability,Phys.
Fluids12,1340.
1970Hirt,C.W.,Cook,J.L.andButler,T.D.,ALagrangianMethodforCalculatingtheDynamics
ofanIncompressibleFluidwithFreeSurface,J.Comp.Phys.5,103.
1971Nichols,B.D.andHirt,C.W.,CalculatingThreeDimensionalFreeSurfaceFlowsinthe
VicinityofSubmergedandExposedStructures,J.Comp.Phys.12,234.
1974Hirt,C.W.,Amsden,A.A.,andCook,J.L.,AnArbitraryLagrangianEulerianComputing
MethodforallFlowSpeeds,J.Comp.Phys.,14,227.
1975Nichols,B.D.andHirt,C.W.,MethodsforCalculatingMultidimensional,TransientFree
SurfaceFlowsPastBodies,Proc.oftheFirstInternationalConf.OnNum.Ship
Hydrodynamics,Gaithersburg,ML,Oct.2023.
1980Nichols,B.D.andHirt,C.W.,NumericalSimulationofBWRVentClearing
Hydrodynamics,Nucl.Sci.Eng.73,196.
1981Hirt,C.W.andNichols,B.D.,VolumeofFluid(VOF)MethodfortheDynamicsofFree
Boundaries,J.Comp.Phys.39,201.

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