Pure material melting and solidification with liquid phase buoyancy and surface tension forces

• Published in: International journal of heat and mass transfer Vol. 36; no. 2; pp. 411 - 422
• Main Authors: Liu, A., Voth, T.E., Bergman, T.L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 1993; Elsevier
• Subjects: Exact sciences and technology; Fluid dynamics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Melting; Metal melting; Molten materials; Numerical analysis; Phase transitions; Physics; Solidification; Turbulent flows, convection, and heat transfer; Liquid solid interface; Melting; Sodium Nitrates; Phase change; Numerical simulation; Natural convection; Silicon; Flow field; Thermocapillarity; Heat transfer; Solidification
• ISSN: 0017-9310; 1879-2189
• DOI: 10.1016/0017-9310(93)80017-O

Melting and solidification of pure materials, during which liquid convection is driven by buoyancy, or a combination of buoyancy and surface tension forces is considered. A numerical model, which is verified by comparing its predictions with experimental results, is used to show that thermocapillary effects can be of primary influence upon local melting rates in both relatively high and low Pr materials, and it can have a significant impact upon overall solidification. In low Pr materials, overall solidification rates are affected by thermocapillary convection more than overall melting rates. Thermocapillary convection is shown to have a significant influence upon phase change, regardless of the value of the dynamic Bond number considered in this study.