NUMERICAL STUDY OF A PURE METAL MELTING IN PRESENCE OF TURBULENT NATURAL CONVECTION

Abstract

Melting of pure metal in presence of turbulent natural convection with Rayleigh number ranging from 106 to 109 has been studied numerically. The governing equations are formulated in terms of stream function—vorticity—temperature and the moving distorted solid/liquid interface is tracked using body‐fitted coordinates. The turbulent flow is taken into account using an algebraic eddy‐viscosity model with Prandtl's mixing length. Results indicate that turbulent natural convection plays a more significant role than laminar flow in the process of melting. Heat transfer and melting rates are significantly increased and a correlation for the average Nusselt number at the heated wall in the quasi‐steady melting regime is proposed.

Citation

WU, Y. and LACROIX, M. (1992), "NUMERICAL STUDY OF A PURE METAL MELTING IN PRESENCE OF TURBULENT NATURAL CONVECTION", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 235-242. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb017492