Numerical Solution of Melting in a Discretely Heated Enclosure using an Interfacial Tracking Method

Abstract

Melting in a discretely heated rectangular enclosure is solved using an interfacial tracking method. The interfacial tracking method combines advantages of both deforming and fixed grid approaches. The location of the melting front was obtained by calculating the energy balance at the solid-liquid interface. Through validating the numerical method with experimental results, it was demonstrated that the interfacial tracking method can be used to solve melting in a discretely heated enclosure at high Rayleigh numbers. Effect of Stefan number and geometry of the heaters on the melting process are also investigated.

Acknowledgments

Support for this work by the U.S. National Science Foundation under grant number CBET-1066917, and the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation under grant 51129602 is gratefully acknowledged.