ASSESSMENT OF PROPERTY INTERPOLATION METHODS IN LEVEL SET METHOD

레벨셋 기법의 물성 보간 방법에 대한 고찰

In level set method, material properties are made to change smoothly across an interface of two materials with different properties by introducing an interpolation or smoothing scheme. So far, the weighted arithmetic mean (WAM) method has been exclusively adopted in level set method, without complete assessment for its validity. We showed here that the weighted harmonic mean (WHM) method for rate constants of various rate processes, including viscosity, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, and permittivity, gives much more accurate results than the WAM method. The selection of interpolation scheme is particularly important in multi-phase electrohydrodynamic problems in which driving force for fluid flow is electrical force exerted on the phase interface. Our analysis also showed that WHM method for both electrical conductivity and permittivity gives not only more accurate, but also more physically realistic distribution of electrical force at the interface. Our arguments are confirmed by numerical simulations of drop deformation under DC electric field.