Bubble rise

bubble rise

The Enriched Finite Element Method (E-FEM) has demonstrated its efficacy as a robust tool for simulating gas-liquid flows in microfluidic contexts. To address the inherent mass conservation challenges of the conventional level-set method, this study integrates a conservative level-set approach into the E-FEM framework. Inspired by the work of Olsson et al., a heavyside-like function replaces the smooth distance function in the convection equation to track the gas-liquid interface evolution. Following each convection step, the function is “rectified” by solving a pseudo-convection-diffusion-reaction equation, ensuring that the interface is well-preserved. This equation is solved using a Finite Element Method within a restricted band around the interface until reaching a pseudo-steady-state condition. Our findings demonstrate that coupling the E-FEM with the conservative level set offers significant advantages, eliminating the need for frequent and computationally expensive distance reinitialization processes, as required by the standard level set approach.