Numerical error in modeling of particle-accumulation structures in periodic free-surface flows

The effect of numerical error in modeling of particle-accumulation in periodic free surface flows is evaluated using an analytical flow model for a thermocapillary liquid bridge. Numerical error is shown to lead to particle-accumulation structures very similar in both shape and formation time to those observed experimentally and calculated using numerical simulations where the error is extremely small. This result of numerical error, which has important implications for determining the existence and formation times of particle-accumulation structures through the use of numerical models, is found to arise from the use of integrators that do not preserve phase space volume.