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Capillarity 2019, 2(4): 57-65 https://doi.org/10.26804/capi.2019.04.01
Original Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 25 October 2019

Study of imbibition in various geometries using phase field method

Show Author's Information Junfeng Xiao,  Youming Luo,  Muyuan Niu,  Qiang Wang,  Jiali Wu,  Xiang Liu,  Jianfeng Xu( )
State Key Lab of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China
Keywords:
geometry, capillary pressure, Imbibition, phase field
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Xiao J, Luo Y, Niu M, et al. Study of imbibition in various geometries using phase field method. Capillarity, 2019, 2(4): 57-65. https://doi.org/10.26804/capi.2019.04.01
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Abstract Full text About this article

Phase field method has been widely utilized to study multiphase flow problems, but has seldom been applied to the study of imbibition. Previous methods used to simulate imbibition, such as moving mesh method, need to specify capillary pressure as a boundary condition a priori, whereas phase field method can calculate capillary pressure automatically for various geometries. Therefore, phase field method would be a versatile tool for the study of imbibition in various geometries. In this paper, phase field method is employed to solve dynamical imbibition problem in various geometries, including straight tube, conical tube and structures in which the topology changes. The variation of the imbibition height with respect to time from phase field simulation is verified with theoretical predictions from Lucas-Washburn law in a straight capillary tube with three gravitational scenarios. In addition, the capillary pressure and velocity field are found to be consistent with Laplace-Young equation and Hagen-Poiseuille equation in various geometries. The applicability and accuracy of the phase field method for the study of imbibition in structures with changing topology are also discussed.


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About this article

Study of imbibition in various geometries using phase field method

Show Author's information Junfeng Xiao, Youming Luo, Muyuan Niu, Qiang Wang, Jiali Wu, Xiang Liu, Jianfeng Xu( )
State Key Lab of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China

Abstract

Phase field method has been widely utilized to study multiphase flow problems, but has seldom been applied to the study of imbibition. Previous methods used to simulate imbibition, such as moving mesh method, need to specify capillary pressure as a boundary condition a priori, whereas phase field method can calculate capillary pressure automatically for various geometries. Therefore, phase field method would be a versatile tool for the study of imbibition in various geometries. In this paper, phase field method is employed to solve dynamical imbibition problem in various geometries, including straight tube, conical tube and structures in which the topology changes. The variation of the imbibition height with respect to time from phase field simulation is verified with theoretical predictions from Lucas-Washburn law in a straight capillary tube with three gravitational scenarios. In addition, the capillary pressure and velocity field are found to be consistent with Laplace-Young equation and Hagen-Poiseuille equation in various geometries. The applicability and accuracy of the phase field method for the study of imbibition in structures with changing topology are also discussed.

Keywords: geometry, capillary pressure, Imbibition, phase field

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 12 October 2019
Revised: 21 October 2019
Accepted: 22 October 2019
Published: 25 October 2019
Issue date: December 2019

Copyright

© The Author(s) 2019

Acknowledgements

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51705172) and funding from State Key Lab of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology.

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This article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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