Electrified fluid...

Hello,

I am just getting started with Comsol (4.1) and am attempting to model the shape of a fluid droplet as it is deformed by an externally applied electric field (i.e: electrospray).

So far I have managed to calculated the electric field for a chosen geometry (stationary solution) using the Electrostatics physics module. I have also used the laminar two-phase flow, level set physics module to calculate the dynamic shape of a fluid meniscus at the end of a capillary with pressure applied.

The problem I am having is with combining these two types of physics so that I can correctly model my situation.

What is the appropriate method to use in modelling this experiment?

Is it possible to add the force from the electric field into the level set calculation?

I have read that the ALE method may be more appropriate than the level set one because there is always a clearly defined boundary for the electric field to act upon. The problem is that the fluid meniscus is expected to deform into a thin jet. This might be too large a deformation for the ALE method to handle.

What about an iterative method in which the geometry is re-meshed between steps? Is this possible to achieve in Comsol?

Any advice that you can offer will be gratefully received.

Thanks,

Matt