Qianxi Fu | Search arXiv

arXiv2026

SurfPhase: 3D Interfacial Dynamics in Two-Phase Flows from Sparse Videos

Interfacial dynamics in two-phase flows govern momentum, heat, and mass transfer, yet remain difficult to measure experimentally. Classical techniques face intrinsic limitations near moving interfaces, while existing neural rendering methods target single-phase flows with diffuse boundaries and cannot handle sharp, deformable liquid-vapor interfaces. We propose SurfPhase, a novel model for reconstructing 3D interfacial dynamics from sparse camera views. Our approach integrates dynamic Gaussian surfels with a signed distance function formulation for geometric consistency, and leverages a video diffusion model to synthesize novel-view videos to refine reconstruction from sparse observations. We evaluate on a new dataset of high-speed pool boiling videos, demonstrating high-quality view synthesis and velocity estimation from only two camera views. Project website: https://yuegao.me/SurfPhase.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2026

Bubble2Heat: Optical to Thermal Inference in Pool Boiling Using Physics-encoded Generative AI

Phase change process plays a critical role in thermal management systems, yet quantitative characterization of multiphase heat transfer remains limited by the challenges of measuring temperature fields in chaotic, rapidly evolving flow regimes. While computational methods offer temperature data at a high spatiotemporal resolution in ideal cases, replicating complex experimental conditions remains prohibitively difficult. In this paper, we present a deep learning framework that can generate temperature field data at simulation resolution from segmented high-speed recordings and pointwise thermocouple readings which are typically available in a canonical pool boiling experimental configuration without requiring advanced techniques. This framework leverages a conditional generative adversarial network trained only on simulation data. To ensure direct applicability of the model to experimental data, our framework also introduces a preprocessing pipeline that aligns high resolution simulation data with experimental measurements through both conventional image processing and image segmentation with pretrained convolutional neural network. We further show that standard data augmentation strategies are effective in enhancing the physical plausibility of the inference when precise physical constraints are not applicable. Our results highlight the potential of deep generative models to bridge the gap between observable multiphase phenomena and underlying thermal transport, offering a powerful approach to augment and interpret experimental measurements in complex two-phase systems.

cs.LG↗