Applications of level set method in computational fluid dynamics: a review

Abstract

Tracking of free interfaces in two-phase and multi-phase fluids is a critical step in computational fluid dynamics. Among the many methods, because of no need for parameterisation of curves and an excellent solution to the problem of evolutionary curve topology change, the level set method (LSM) is widely used in the field and has achieved good results. The paper reviews applications of LSM in the tracking of free interfaces, including theory fundamental, solving the basic partial differential equation used to represent fluids in LSM, free interfaces tracking of two-phase fluids, interfaces evolutions of multi-phase fluids, and coupling with other methods to increase tracking performance. Based on the summaries, we confirm the level set method has achieved excellent results in fluid interface tracking either alone or coupled with other algorithms. Of course, the level set method requires further optimisation in terms of initialisation and mass conservation.