Surface Tension Modeling using the Axisymmetric Contact Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Method

Document Type : Research Paper

Author
Georgii Dmitrievich Rublev 1 , 2
1 Department of Mathematical Modeling, Dukhov Automatics Research Institute, Sushchevskaya St., 22, Moscow, 127030, Russia
2 Laboratory of Physical Gas Dynamics, Joint Institute for High Temperatures of RAS, Izhorskaya st., 13, Bd. 2, Moscow, 125412, Russia
10.22055/jacm.2025.48645.5390
Abstract
This article demonstrates the possibilities of computer simulation of capillary phenomena using the axisymmetric contact smoothed particle hydrodynamics (CSPH) method. The conservation accuracy of total momentum and total energy is important in modeling of many physical problems, including capillary phenomena, since the non-physical acceleration may lead to incorrect deformation of free surfaces. A modified axisymmetric CSPH method is considered to improve the accuracy of preserving the total momentum and the total energy. An external pressure boundary condition is proposed for the CSPH method and used for surface tension modeling. The verification of the surface tension model is performed for three test cases: evaluating the Laplace pressure in a water droplet, estimating the period of small oscillations of a water droplet, and comparing the velocity of rims propagation driven by surface tension forces at thin film boundaries with Taylor-Culick's formula. A simulation of the Rayleigh-Plateau instability development is also conducted.
Keywords
Axisymmetric SPH
Contact SPH
Surface tension
Conservative schemes
Riemann solver
Subjects

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Journal of Applied and Computational Mechanics
Volume 12, Issue 3
Summer 2026
Pages 759-769