Patent ID: 7349833

Claim:
A method for simulating and analyzing fluid ejection from a channel, there being a boundary between a first fluid that flows through the channel and a second fluid, the method comprising the steps of: (a) formulating a central-difference-based discretization on a uniform rectangular grid, wherein the rectangular grid comprises a plurality of cells; (b) performing finite difference analysis on the uniform rectangular grid using the central-difference-based discretization to solve equations governing the flow of the first fluid through the channel, wherein: (i) for a plurality of cells there is a velocity vector of the first fluid at a first point in time; (ii) a plurality of level set values for characterizing the boundary between the first fluid and the second fluid; (iii) the central-difference-based discretization is used to calculate the velocity of the first fluid for each cell at a second point in time; (iv) for each cell in which there is a corresponding velocity vector the velocity vector is located at an approximate center of that cell at one time point and at a grid point of the cell at a next time point; and (v) for each cell in which there is a corresponding level set value the level set value is located at an approximate center of the cell at one time point and at a grid point of the cell at a next time point; and (c) simulating the flow of the first fluid through, and ejection from, the channel based on the performed finite difference analysis.