The divergence-free velocity formulation of the consistent Navier-Stokes Cahn-Hilliard model with non-matching densities, divergence-conforming discretization, and benchmarks

Abstract

The prototypical diffuse-interface model that describes multi-component flows is the Navier-Stokes Cahn-Hilliard model (NSCH). Over the last decades many NSCH models have appeared that claim to describe the same physical phenomena, yet are distinct from one another. In a recent article [M.F.P. ten Eikelder, K.G. van der Zee, I. Akkerman, and D. Schillinger, Math. Mod. Meth. Appl. S. 33, pp 175-221, 2023.] we have established a unified framework of virtually all NSCH models. The framework reveals that there is only a single consistent NSCH model that naturally emanates from the underlying mixture theory. In the current article we present, verify and validate this novel consistent NSCH model by means of numerical simulation. To this purpose we discretize a divergence-free velocity formulation of the NSCH model using divergence-conforming isogeometric spaces. We compare computations of our consistent model to results of existing models from literature. The predictive capability of the numerical methodology is demonstrated via three-dimensional computations of a rising bubble and the contraction of a liquid filament that compare well with experimental data.