LBfoam: An open-source software package for the simulation of foaming using the Lattice Boltzmann Method

This paper presents a 2D/3D Free Surface Lattice Boltzmann Method simulation package called LBfoam for the simulation of foaming processes. The model incorporates the essential physics of foaming phenomena: gas diffusion into nucleated bubbles, bubble dynamics and coalescence, surface tension, the stabilizing disjoining pressure between bubbles, and Newtonian and non-Newtonian rheological models. The software can simulate the growth and interaction of bubbles, and predict final foam structures. The implementation is based on the Palabos library (in C++), which enables large-scale parallel simulations. The software is freely available under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3.