The Role of Surface Tension in Multiphase Flow Regimes

The role of surface tension in determining flow regime for an incompressible, miscible two phase fluid is studied. The main interest in this thesis is to analyse the transition between distinct flow regimes. It was motivated by an unpublished theory which addresses the dynamics of the flow regime transitions in terms of a dimensionless parameter. A second result of this thesis concerns the improved mass conservation properties of the front tracking scheme of Glimm et al. resulting from the implementation of mixed finite elements. This implementation was used to support surface tension induced pressure discontinuities and to provide an improved velocity solution.