Phase Initialization
If the study type Transient with Phase Initialization is used in the model, the phase field variable is automatically initialized. For this study, two study steps are created, Phase Initialization and Time Dependent. The Phase Initialization step solves for the distance to the initial interface, Dwi. The Time Dependent step then uses the initial condition for the level set function according to the following expression:
in domains initially filled with Fluid 1 and
in domains initially filled with Fluid 2.
Correspondingly, for the phase field method the following expressions are used:
in Fluid 1 and
in Fluid 2. The initial condition for the help variable is ψ0 = 0. These expressions are based on the analytical solution of the steady state solution of Equation 6-9, and Equation 6-10 for a straight, nonmoving interface.
If the Phase Initialization () study step is being used, for the initialization to work it is crucial that there are two Initial Values nodes. One of the Initial Values nodes should use Specify phase: Fluid 1 and the other Specify phase: Fluid 2. The initial fluid-fluid interface is then automatically placed on all interior boundaries between both phases. Note that when the value of Phase field variable is set to User defined, arbitrary user defined initial values have to be provided. In this case, the smooth initialization is not used, and a Time Dependent study should be used instead of Time Dependent with Phase Initialization.
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The Two-Phase Thin-Film Flow, Phase Field Interfaces
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Studies and Solvers and Time Dependent with Phase Initialization in the COMSOL Multiphysics Reference Manual