A reformulation of the conservative level set reinitialization equation for accurate and robust simulation of complex multiphase flows

This paper presents an accurate and robust reinitialization equation for the conservative level set that does not significantly deform stationary surfaces. The compression and diffusion term of the reinitialization equation are reformulated to use a distance level set directly mapped from the conservative level set. The normals are calculated using a distance level set reconstructed from the interface using a fast marching method, increasing robustness and allowing the use of high order, non-TVD transport schemes. Using this new reinitialization equation, we present results for canonical test cases, such as Zalesak's disk and spurious currents, which show significant improvement. A simulation of a liquid-gas jet with Re = 5000 is also presented to demonstrate the volume conservation properties of the method in more complex flows. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.