Vortex shedding behind a rising bubble and two-bubble coalescence: A numerical approach

In this work, we present the computational results on the wake instability in wobbling bubble regime as well as on the coalescence of two bubbles in different shape regimes. This is a continuation of our previous studies on the dynamics of a single gas bubble rising in a viscous liquid (see [A. Smolianski, H. Haario, P. Luukka, Computational Study of Bubble Dynamics, Research Report 86, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland]), and we use the same, finite-element/level-set/operator-splitting method that was proposed in [A. Smolianski, Numerical Modeling of Two-Fluid Interfacial Flows, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Jyväskylä, 2001]. The numerical method allows to simulate a wide range of flow regimes, accurately capturing the shape of the deforming interface of the bubble and the surface tension effect, while maintaining a good mass conservation. Due to the highly unstable and small-scale nature of the considered problems there are very few experimental investigations, but the comparison with available experimental data confirms a good accuracy of our numerical predictions. Our studies show that plausible results can be obtained with two-dimensional numerical simulations, when a single buoyant bubble or a coalescence of two bubbles is considered.