It is well known that the one-dimensional equations of motion for two-phase flow are non-hyperbolic. Non-hyperbolicity can lead to numerical instabilities, destroying the solution. However, researchers in the last few decades were able to show that inclusion of virtual mass and/or phase-to-interface pressure differences in the momentum equations successfully render the equations of motion hyperbolic. In the present paper, the effect of including virtual mass and phase-to-interface pressure terms in the momentum equations on the hyperbolicity of the two-phase model in the CATHENA 4 code is discussed. The study is motivated by the fact that the inclusion of either model has been shown in the open literature to lead to a hyperbolic system separately. However, no known study exists that examine hyperbolicity in the presence of both these terms in the momentum equations. In this work, both terms are considered in the model equations simultaneously and their implications on the hyperbolicity of the two-phase model are discussed. Specifically, it is shown that in the case of mixed flow, there is a distinct region of non-hyperbolicity that developers need to be aware of when their equations include both the virtual mass and the phase-tointerface terms. Selecting the coefficients of phase-to-interface pressure difference terms properly ensures that the equations are hyperbolic for a wide range of conditions.

Direct link: http://www.nuclear-engineering-journal.com/KT110241