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  • Documentation

    Multi-purpose Multiphase

    The Multi-purpose solver can be a great choice if one wants to perform multiphase simulations involving the time-dependent behavior of two fluids using the VOF (Volume of Fluid) method.

    Animation 1: Water spillway in canal

    The VOF solver employs a proprietary, higher-order reconstruction scheme for the interface modeling, along with a robust binary tree-based mesher, which helps in fast mesh generation of complicated geometries and stable convergence over a wide range of problems.

    The following advantages make the Multi-purpose solver a great choice for multiphase simulations:

    Setup in SimScale

    Multiphase simulations are inherently transient. Hence, the Time dependency will switch to Transient when the Multiphase option is toggled on. One can also change the Time dependency to Transient first and then toggle on Multiphase. These can be done within the global settings for the Multi-purpose analysis.

    toggle Multi-purpose multiphase solver
    Figure 1: Toggling on the Multiphase feature within the Multi-purpose solver in SimScale

    The user needs to specify the number of phases involved in the multiphase simulation.

    Initial conditions

    Initial conditions define the values which the solutions fields will be initialized with. The phase fraction can be initialized globally or for a specific region as a subdomain for all the phases involved.

    Multi-purpose multiphase phase fraction initialization
    Figure 2: Phase fraction initialization inside a subdomain for multiphase simulations.

    Phase fraction sum

    The solver will throw an error if the sum of the phase fractions does not add up to one. Please ensure the values of the associated phases add up to one under *Initial conditions > Phase fractions > Subdomains*.

    Applications of Multi-purpose Multiphase

    • AEC and Hydraulic engineering
      • Assess dynamic forces and free surface wave patterns on hydraulic structures like radial gates, tunnel chutes & spillways
      • Hydraulic design of stormwater drainage culverts & irrigation systems
      • Dam break analysis
      • Assessing approach conditions on pump sumps & inlet geometry effects on reservoir mixing
      • Open channel flows
    Animation 2: Flow visualization and forces on dam gates
    • Industrial equipment
      • 3D flow patterns and mixing efficiency in industrial mixers
      • Separation efficiency and phase fraction distribution in fluid separation systems
      • Mixing and air flow rate analysis in aeration beds
      • Design of desalination equipment (water-brine simulations)
      • Fluid behavior in venturi scrubbers and gas mixers
    Animation 3a: Mixing tank baffle design comparison: Without baffles
    Animation 3b: Mixing tank baffle design comparison: With baffles
    • Rotating machinery
      • Performance analysis of hydraulic turbines 
      • Mixing efficiency and flow behavior in Rushton turbines, industrial mixers & stirred tank reactors  
      • Performance and flow analysis of liquid-gas flows through rotodynamic pumps in O&G, food processing, water transportation, etc. 
      •  Flow analysis and thrust computations for marine propellers
    Animation 4: Purging water-primed pump with the working fluid, oil
    • Flow control
      • Pressure drops and hydraulic loss assessment through subsea piping systems
      • Flow capacity assessment of multiphase mixtures through different types of valves
      • Tank filling and surge tank analysis
      • Fuel injectors, coolant flows through HVAC systems and oil-air flows through engine chambers
      • Flow rate and range analysis of fire fighting equipment
    Animation 5: Pressure and filling progress during the valve priming process

    Last updated: September 16th, 2024

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