Simulation of liquid drop breakup behavior in a flow field using discrete element techniques

In this study, a discrete element technique was used to simulate drop breakup in two dimensions. A series of simulations in which the drop breakup occurred in the presence of a flow field was performed. The density ratio of the flow field to the drop in the simulations was comparable to many of the isothermal liquid/liquid drop breakup experiments performed to investigate hydrodynamic breakup during Fuel Coolant Interactions (FCIs). The randomly directed internal kinetic energy of the drop increased rapidly at the beginning of the interaction between the drop and the flow field due to momentum transfer from the flow field to the drop. After the initial increase in internal energy of the drop, the momentum transferred from the flow field to the drop in the form of translational kinetic energy of the center of mass of the drop. It was also observed that the drops simulated in the presence of a flow field required higher internal kinetic energies to fragment than did the drops observed in the simulations performed in the absence of a flow field