In general, the VOF method is used to predict the flow between immiscible fluids. Some typical
industry applications include:
- Simulation of multi-phase flows where
bubble formation is important in jet break up and bubble formation due to
cavitation, such as propeller damage in marine applications.
- Simulations where the effect of gravity
and other forces affect the free surface, such as in atmospheric and oceanic
simulations, tank sloshing prediction, and dam break simulations.
- Capillary flows where the effects of
surface tension and wall adhesion are important.
You can solve using the VOF method if your simulation includes a VOF section in which all
fluids are incompressible or if one of the fluids is a compressible ideal gas. If one of
the fluids is compressible, you should use the VOF method only for flows with a low Mach
number. In addition, the VOF method uses the
segregated
solver; you cannot use the VOF method with the coupled solver.
When you use the VOF method, you should also perform the following configurations to the
transient step parameters:
- Enable automatic time incrementation
for the step, and specify a CFL number of 0.5. These two settings reduce the
diffusion errors in the predicted multi-phase interface.
- Set the under-relaxation factors to 1
in all the transport equations involved in the simulation (for example,
pressure, momentum, energy, and turbulence).