Dynamic mesh refinement for discrete models of jet electro-hydrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a dynamic mesh-refinement technique for discrete element models of electro-hydrodynamic jets, improving resolution in simulations of electrospinning processes.

Contribution

It develops a novel mesh-refinement method for discrete element simulations of charged jets, inspired by string method techniques from free-energy landscape studies.

Findings

Enhanced resolution in jet modeling during electrospinning

Successful demonstration of the method on electrospinning applications

Improved accuracy in simulating electro-hydrodynamic behavior

Abstract

Nowadays, several models of unidimensional fluid jets exploit discrete element methods. In some cases, as for models aiming at describing the electrospinning nanofabrication process of polymer fibers, discrete element methods suffer a non constant resolution of the jet representation. We develop a dynamic mesh-refinement method for the numerical study of the electro-hydrodynamic behavior of charged jets using discrete element methods. To this purpose, we import ideas and techniques from the string method originally developed in the framework of free-energy landscape simulations. The mesh-refined discrete element method is demonstrated for the case of electrospinning applications.