Numerical simulation of drop deformations and breakup modes caused by direct current electric fields

Abstract

A drop suspended in another fluid shows different dynamic behaviors in an electric field that depends on its physical properties. The phenomenon of drop deformation under the application of an electric field, in the absence of a net volume charge, is simply caused by the surface stresses. Therefore, an accurate method is required for numerical modeling of the electric driving force at the interface to handle all of the discontinuities involved in the model. For this purpose, in this study the level set method is used along with the ghost fluid method to investigate the responses of three types of drop in the presence of an electric field. Moreover, to demonstrate the accuracy of the method, the breakup modes of each electric model are carefully simulated. Finally, the results of the simulations are compared with similar numerical and experimental results from the literature. The simulation results indicate the accuracy of the method for modeling of the phenomenon over a wide range of electric capillary numbers, and particularly for the capture of the drop profile at the instant of disintegration.