Immersed boundary–lattice Boltzmann mesoscale method for wetting problems

We develop a mesoscale computational model to describe the interaction of a droplet with a solid. The model is based on the hybrid combination of the immersed boundary and the lattice Boltzmann computational schemes: the former is used to model the nonideal sharp interface of the droplet coupled with the inner and outer fluids, simulated with the lattice Boltzmann scheme. We further introduce an interaction force to model the wetting interactions of the droplet with the solid at mesoscale: this interaction force is designed with the key computational advantage of providing a regularization of the interface profile close to the contact line, avoiding abrupt curvature changes that could otherwise cause numerical instabilities. The proposed model substantially improves earlier immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann models for wetting in that it allows a description of an ample variety of wetting interactions, ranging from hydrophobic to hydrophilic cases, without the need for any precalibration study on model parameters to be used. Model validations against analytical results for droplet shape at equilibrium and scaling laws for droplet spreading dynamics are addressed.