A conservative level-set method based on a posterior mass correction preserving distance property for incompressible multiphase flows simulations

Abstract: As one of the most popular interface-capturing methods, the level-set method is inherently non-conservative, and its evolution usually leads to unphysical mass gain/loss. In this paper, a novel conservative level set method is developed for incompressible multiphase flows simulations. A posterior mass correction is performed by introducing a small perturbation to the level-set field, which is solved via the Newton method. Unlike in previous researches, the signed distance property of the level-set function is exactly preserved after the present mass correction. Moreover, this method can be easily generalized from 2D to 3D. The influence for the computational efficiency is slight as the correction does not need to be applied at every time step. Various benchmark cases involving pure interface-evolution problems and multiphase flows problems are considered to validate the present method. For all cases, the accuracy and efficiency of the original method and the present method are quantitatively compared. It is observed that, with negligibly extra cost, the conservation error is reduced to the order of machine accuracy by the present method, which indicates its potential applications in complex multiphase flows simulations.