Abstract
The lattice kinetic scheme based on the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for two-phase fluid flows with large density differences is applied to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability problem with heat transfer. First, the isothermal simulation is carried out, and the growth rate of the instability against an infinitesimal disturbance is investigated. The results are in good agreement with the theoretical prediction for different values of the interfacial tension. Next, the simulation of thermal fluid flow is performed to obtain the flow fields and temperature distributions under various thermal conditions. From these results, it is found that the flow characteristics are different from the corresponding isothermal ones owing to the buoyancy effects by heat transfer through the interface.
