Prediction of freezing and thawing times for multi-dimensional shapes by numerical methods

Abstract

An assessment of the accuracy of numerical methods used in the prediction of freezing and thawing times was made using a comprehensive set of freezing and thawing data for both regular and irregular multidimensional shapes. For regular shapes, a finite difference method gave accurate predictions with reasonable computation costs. Predictions for two finite element method formulations were not always accurate. This was due to practical constraints on the computation costs which meant that time and spatial grids could not always be made sufficiently fine to ensure that the prediction method uncertainty was insignificant compared with the other sources of imprecision. Guidelines are suggested for the use of the finite element method as a freezing or thawing time predictor. These should ensure that the prediction method error is small while keeping the computation costs reasonable. © 1987.