Numerical Analysis of Convection Driven Melting of Metals and Alloys Using Fixed Grid Methods

Abstract

This paper describes the results of a numerical heat transfer model and CFD based simulation for natural convection during melting of metals and alloys. The influence of natural convection on the evolving melt front and the undergoing transport phenomena in the individual phases were investigated. An enthalpy formulation based fixed grid methodology was developed for the numerical solution of convection-diffusion controlled phase change problems. To understand the basic heat transfer mechanism during melting both 1-D and 2-D problems were solved. The basic feature of the proposed method lies in the representation of the latent heat evolution, and of the flow in the solid-liquid mushy zone, by suitable chosen sources. Results obtained from the numerical study were compared to experimental data available in the literature. The method converged rapidly and was capable of accurately predicting both the position and morphology of the melt front at various times with relatively modest computational requirements.