title: Numerical simulations of bubble motion in a vibrated cell under microgravity using level set and VOF algorithms.
abstract: Understanding the stability of fluid interfaces subjected to small vibrations under microgravity conditions is important for designing future materials science experiments to be conducted aboard orbiting spacecraft. During the STS-85 mission, experiments investigating the motion of a large bubble resulting from small, controlled vibrations were performed aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. To better understand the experimental results, two-and three-dimensional simulations of the experiment were performed using level set and volume-of-fluid interface tracking algorithms. The simulations proved capable of predicting accurately the experimentally determined bubble translation behavior. Linear dependence of the bubble translation amplitude on the container translation amplitude was confirmed. In addition, the simulation model was used to confirm predictions of a theoretical inviscid model of bubble motion developed in a previous study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Friesen
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahira
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Allegro
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawaji