Visual Simulation of Bubbles in Carbonated Water

In this paper, we propose a simple method for simulating the generation, growth and motion of bubbles in carbonated water. Bubbles are known to be generated at small air pockets on the surfaces of objects, such as a glass or a stirrer, and on the microscopic dusts in carbonated water. The number of bubbles and their growth rates differ according to the materials of the objects. In addition, the motion of bubbles also differs according to the materials; bubbles slowly glide on plastic and acrylic surfaces whereas such motions cannot be seen on a stainless-steel surface. Our method can represent such differences by controlling the number of generation points (i.e., air pockets) and applying adhesion forces to make bubbles stick on the surfaces. Because bubbles in carbonated water are sufficiently small, our method regards bubbles as non-deformable spherical particles. We simulate the flow in carbonated water using a grid-based method, together with the two-way coupling technique between bubbles and the convective flow. Additionally, the collisions and fusions among bubbles are also handled to reproduce the complex behavior of bubbles. 1この論文は NICOGRAPH International 2012に投稿した論文 [1] を芸術科学会論文誌に投稿するものである.