A comparison of ensemble- and volume-averaged bubbly flow models

Abstract

We compare volume- and ensemble-averaged bubbly flow models. Volume-averaging is a deterministic process for which bubbles are represented in a Lagrangian framework as advected particles, each sampled from a distribution of equilibrium bubble sizes. Ensemble-averaging instead uses mixture-averaged equations in an Eulerian reference frame for the associated bubble properties, each represented by bins of the equilibrium distribution. In both cases, bubbles are modeled as spherical with dynamics governed by the Keller-Miksis equation. Computationally, there are tradeoffs between these two approaches. Here, we simulate an acoustically excited dilute bubble screen and compare the computational efficiency of the two approaches.