A continuum mechanics model for boiling

In our recent work, we have developed a thermomechanical theory for multiphase flows, wich particular focus on the van der Waals fluid. By invoking Gurtin's microforce theory, the Coleman-Noll approach is generalized to derive constitutive relations in the presence of non-local effects. A new fully discrete numerical scheme for the model problem is designed. The scheme is provably unconditionally stable in entropy and second-order accurate in time. Using these technologies, the liquid-vapor boiling problem is investigated. Compared with traditional multiphase solvers, the dependency on empirical data is significantly reduced. It is demonstrated that this approach provides a unified predictive tool for different boiling stages (nucleate boiling, film boiling, etc.). The above figure is a snapshot of a three-dimensional simulation of boiling. It is worth mentioning that the vapor flows condense to small liquid droplets on the top cooled boundary surface. A simulation movie can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic57OM796kc

The research results are published in a recent CMAME paper: http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1Ry0RAQEIYow3