This folder contains the final compiled report (PDF) that documents the theory, implementation and validation of the custom OpenFOAM Lagrangian spray solver hosted in this repository.
Title. A Diffusion-Based Lagrangian Spray Solver in OpenFOAM for Liquid Jet Atomization in Subsonic Crossflow
Author. Lorenzo Proli — Politecnico di Torino, M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering, 2026.
File. MSc_Thesis_Proli_2026.pdf
A custom OpenFOAM Lagrangian spray solver implementing the Madabhushi–Lambert breakup model for liquid jets in crossflow (LJICF) and gas-film (LJIGF/GLOP) configurations. The solver couples the breakup model with a Diffusion-Based Method (DBM) for momentum source-term smoothing, eliminating the velocity-locking artefact of the standard Particle Centroid Method (PCM) in dense spray regions. The complete model chain — KH/Wave surface stripping, Madabhushi column breakup, the Lambert ligament correction, Pilch–Erdman secondary breakup and a deformation-dependent drag law — is assessed against the Lambert LJICF benchmark (J = 10 and J = 20) and the Zhang LJIGF/GLOP cases at two gas-film Weber numbers.
- Introduction — motivation, objectives and contributions
- Physical background and Lagrangian model formulation
- OpenFOAM implementation (
sprayFoamDBM) - Lambert LJICF validation: J10 sensitivity and J20 follow-up
- Zhang LJIGF/GLOP validation and DBM necessity
- Conclusions, limitations and future developments
If you use the solver or refer to this work, please cite the archived software
record (Zenodo DOI
10.5281/zenodo.20666066); see
CITATION.cff in the repository root.
- Solver source code and documentation: top-level
README.md. - Curated bibliography of the supporting literature:
docs/papers/README.md.