A narrowband variational level set methodology for predicting cavitating surface nucleation sites

A robust narrowband implementation of the Gibbs free energy minimization algorithm using a variational level set methodology is presented. The method relies on the distance regularized level set equations (DRLSE) which avoids the standard reinitialization. The application of the method is to obtain a liquid-gas interface over a wedge and arbitrary rough surfaces to predict nucleation sites for different external pressure conditions. The ability of the method to predict accurately, quickly and efficiently is demonstrated.