Eur. Phys. J. E (2016) 39: 46
https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2016-16046-1

Regular Article

On moving contact lines simulated by the single-component two-phase lattice-Boltzmann method

¹ Department of Engineering Mechanics, College of Aerospace Engineering, Chongqing University, 400044, Chongqing, China
² Chongqing Key Laboratory of Heterogeneous Material Mechanics (Chongqing University), 400044, Chongqing, China
³ State Key Laboratory of Mechanical Transmission, Chongqing University, 400044, Chongqing, China
⁴ Department of Aerodynamics, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Yudao Street 29, Nanjing, 210016, Jiangsu, China

^* e-mail: jjhuang@cqu.edu.cn

Received: 9 December 2015
Accepted: 24 March 2016
Published online: 26 April 2016

Abstract

We studied moving contact lines (MCLs) simulated by the single-component two-phase lattice-Boltzmann method (TP-LBM) based on the free-energy theory. In TP-LBM simulations CL moves by evaporation and condensation, and they do not involve an explicit slip length. How the CL motion compares with those by other methods using a slip model is not well understood yet. By comparing the results for a benchmark problem with established analytical solutions, we found an effective slip length proportional to the interface thickness in TP-LBM simulations. Besides, it was found that a recently proposed simple method originally in the framework of LBM for binary fluids can also be applied to TP-LBM to regulate the CL motion, and this method can greatly enhance its capability to simulate realistic two-phase flows with very small slip lengths.