English

A space-time extension of a conservative two-fluid cut-cell method for moving diffusion problems

Computational Physics 2026-01-01 v2 Numerical Analysis Numerical Analysis

Abstract

We present a space-time extension of a conservative Cartesian cut-cell finite-volume method for two-phase diffusion problems with prescribed interface motion. The formulation follows a two-fluid approach: one scalar field is solved in each phase with discontinuous material properties, coupled by sharp interface conditions enforcing flux continuity and jump laws. To handle moving boundaries on a fixed Cartesian grid, the discrete balance is written over phase-restricted space-time control volumes, whose geometric moments (swept volumes and apertures) are used as weights in the finite-volume operators. This construction naturally accounts for the creation and destruction of cut cells (fresh/dead-cell events) and yields strict discrete conservation. The resulting scheme retains the algebraic structure of the static cut-cell formulation while incorporating motion through local geometric weights and interface coupling operators. A series of verification and validation tests in two and three dimensions demonstrate super-linear accuracy in space, robust behavior under repeated topology changes and conservation across strong coefficient jumps and moving interfaces. The proposed space-time cut-cell framework provides a conservative building block for multiphase transport in evolving geometries and a foundation for future free-boundary extensions such as Stefan-type phase change.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.23358,
  title  = {A space-time extension of a conservative two-fluid cut-cell method for moving diffusion problems},
  author = {Louis Libat and Can Selçuk and Eric Chénier and Vincent Le Chenadec},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.23358},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

25 pages, 11 figures. v2: Minor editorial corrections

R2 v1 2026-07-01T08:44:08.112Z