Isogeometric analysis of the isothermal Navier-Stokes-Korteweg equations

This paper is devoted to the numerical simulation of the Navier-Stokes-Korteweg equations, a phase-field model for water/water-vapor two-phase flows. We develop a numerical formulation based on isogeometric analysis that permits straightforward treatment of the higher-order partial-differential operator that represents capillarity. We introduce a new refinement methodology that desensitizes the numerical solution to the computational mesh and achieves mesh invariant solutions. Finally, we present several numerical examples in two and three dimensions that illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of our approach. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.