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Physical Review Letters -- January 3, 2000 -- Volume 84, Issue 1, pp. 91-94

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Domain Growth in Ternary Fluids: A Level Set Approach

K. A. Smith,1 F. J. Solis,2 L. Tao,3 K. Thornton,2 and M. Olvera de la Cruz1,2

1Department of Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208

2Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208

3Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027

(Received 2 July 1999)

We analyze phase separation in ternary systems in the asymptotic hydrodynamic regime when the volume fractions and concentrations are constant. The multiphase Navier-Stokes equations are solved using a level set method. A new projection method was developed to treat multiple junctions for systems with more than two phases. It is found that surface tension ratios can alter the growth mechanism of a minority phase in the presence of two majority phases. When the minority phase wets the interface of the majority phases the domain growth rate of all three phases is initially similar to that of a symmetric binary fluid but slows down at later times. ©1999 The American Physical Society