Numerical simulation of solidification and melting problems on unstructured grid

Abstract

Solidification and melting problems are phase change kind of problems in which interface moves and it separates the phases. Natural convection and conduction are the main mechanism behind the physics of these problems. In the present study, Navier-Stokes equations along with continuity and energy equation are solved to predict the phase change pattern of pure metals (e.g. Gallium) and alloys (e.g. Steel). Here, enthalpy method is used to find the temperature distribution and to track the position of the solid-liquid interface with time. A coupled fully implicit method is used to solve the momentum and energy equation. Both isothermal and mushy region phase change problem is presented and verified with numerical results available in the literature.