# Non-local model for surface tension in fluid-fluid simulations

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a non-local integral model for surface tension in fluid-fluid simulations, capturing nanoscale effects and improving the accuracy of droplet behavior predictions compared to traditional models.

## Contribution

The paper presents a novel non-local surface tension model that accounts for size-dependent effects and demonstrates its effectiveness through analytical and numerical comparisons.

## Key findings

- The model agrees with the Young-Laplace law for large droplets.
- Surface tension decreases with smaller droplet radii, matching experimental observations.
- The non-local model accurately predicts droplet dynamics and coalescence behaviors.

## Abstract

We propose a non-local model for surface tension obtained in the form of an integral of a molecular-force-like function with support $3.5\varepsilon$ added to the Navier-Stokes momentum conservation equation. We demonstrate analytically and numerically that with the non-local model interfaces with a radius of curvature larger than the support length behave macroscopically and microscopically, otherwise. For static droplets, the pressure difference $P_{\varepsilon, in} - P_{\varepsilon, out}$ satisfies the Young-Laplace law for droplet radius greater than $3.5\varepsilon$ and otherwise deviates from the Young-Laplace law. The latter indicates that the surface tension in the proposed model decreases with decreasing radius of curvature, which agrees with molecular dynamics and experimental studies of nanodroplets. Using the non-local model we perform numerical simulations of droplets under dynamic conditions, including a rising droplet, a droplet in shear flow, and two colliding droplets in shear flow, and compare results with a standard Navier-Stokes model subject to the Young-Laplace boundary condition at the fluid-fluid interface implemented via the Conservative Level Set (CLS) method. We find good agreement with existing numerical methods and analytical results for a rising macroscopic droplet and a droplet in a shear flow. For colliding droplets in shear flow, the non-local model converges (with respect to the grid size) to the correct behavior, including sliding, coalescence, and merging and breaking of two droplets depending on the capillary number. In contrast, we find that the results of the CLS model are highly grid-size dependent.