Solution of free-boundary problems using finite-element/Newton methods and locally refined grids: Application to analysis of solidification microstructure

A new method is presented for the solution of free-boundary problems using Lagrangian finite element approximations defined on locally refined grids. The formulation allows for direct transition from coarse to fine grids without introducing non-conforming basis functions. The calculation of elemental stiffness matrices and residual vectors are unaffected by changes in the refinement level, which are accounted for in the loading of elemental data to the global stiffness matrix and residual vector. This technique for local mesh refinement is combined with recently developed mapping methods and Newton's method to form an efficient algorithm for the solution of free-boundary problems, as demonstrated here by sample calculations of cellular interfacial microstructure during directional solidification of a binary alloy.     

An analysis of a phase field model of a free boundary

A mathematical analysis of a new approach to solidification problems is presented. A free boundary arising from a phase transition is assumed to have finite thickness. The physics leads to a system of nonlinear parabolic differential equations. Existence and regularity of solutions are proved. Invariant regions of the solution space lead to physical interpretations of the interface. A rigorous asymptotic analysis leads to the Gibbs-Thompson condition which relates the temperature at the interface to the surface tension and curvature.     

Numerical solution of solidification in a square prism using an algebraic grid generation technique

The solidification of an infinitely long square prism was analyzed numerically. A front fixing technique along with an algebraic grid generation scheme was used, where the finite difference form of the energy equation is solved for the temperature distribution in the solid phase and the solid–liquid interface energy balance is integrated for the new position of the moving solidification front. Results are given for the moving solidification boundary with a circular phase change interface. An algebraic grid generation scheme was developed for two-dimensional domains, which generates grid points separated by equal distances in the physical domain. The current scheme also allows the implementation of a finer grid structure at desired locations in the domain. The method is based on fitting a constant arc length mesh in the two computational directions in the physical domain. The resulting simultaneous, nonlinear algebraic equations for the grid locations are solved using the Newton-Raphson method for a system of equations. The approach is used in a two-dimensional solidification problem, in which the liquid phase is initially at the melting temperature, solved by using a front-fixing approach. The difference of the current study lies in the fact that front fixing is applied to problems, where the solid–liquid interface is curved such that the position of the interface, when expressed in terms of one of the coordinates is a double valued function. This requires a coordinate transformation in both coordinate directions to transform the complex physical solidification domain to a Cartesian, square computational domain. Due to the motion of the solid–liquid interface in time, the computational grid structure is regenerated at every time step.     

Petrov-Galerkin methods for natural convection in directional solidification of binary alloys

A Petrov-Galerkin finite element method is presented for calculation of the steady, axisymmetric thermosolutal convection and interface morphology in a model for vertical Bridgman crystal growth of nondilute binary alloys. The Petrov-Galerkin method is based on the formulation for biquadratic elements developed by Heinrich and Zienkiewicz and is introduced into the calculation of the velocity, temperature and concentration fields. The algebraic system is solved simultaneously for the field variables and interface shape by Newton's method. The results of the Petrov-Galerkin method are compared critically with those of Galerkin's method using the same finite element grids. Significant improvements in accuracy are found with the Petrov-Galerkin method only when the mesh is refined and when the formulation of the residual equations is modified to account for the mixed boundary conditions that arise at the solidification interface. Calculations for alloys with stable and unstable solute gradients show the occurrence of classical flow transitions and morphological instabilities in the solidification system.     

Deterministic physical influence control of interfacial motion in thermal processing of solidified materials

In this paper, a new experimental method of phase interface motion control with time dependent boundary cooling is presented for ice–water solidification problems. A numerical method for inverse heat transfer problems was developed to predict the transient boundary conditions, which produce a prescribed phase interface motion. In the experimental study, the predicted boundary temperatures from the numerical simulation were used to control the ice–water interface movement for various specified interface motions. Two cases of different phase interface velocities were considered. Water supercooling was observed during each experiment. A time delay in the thermal control was calculated based on an analytical solution. Close agreement between measured data and specified interface motion was achieved for the ice–water solidification problems.     

Asymptotic models of solidification in cooling thin-layer flows of a highly viscous fluid

Asymptotic models are constructed for the solidification process in a highly viscous film flow on the surface of a cone with a given mass supply at the cone apex. In the thin-layer approximation, the problem is reduced to two parabolic equations for the temperatures of the liquid and the solid coupled with an ordinary differential equation for the solidification front. For large Péclet numbers, an analytical steady-state solution for the solidification front is found. A nondimensional parameter which makes it possible to distinguish flows (i) without a solid crust, (ii) with a steady-state solid crust, and (iii) with complete solidification is determined. For finite Péclet numbers and large Stefan numbers, an analytical transient solution is found and the time of complete flow solidification is determined. In the general case, when all the governing parameters are of the order of unity, the original system of equations is studied numerically. The solutions obtained are qualitatively compared with the data of field observations for lava flows produced by extrusive volcanic eruptions.     

A dual-scale coupled micro/macro segregation model for dendritic alloy solidification

The present article reports on the formulation, numerical implementation, and application of a single-domain coupled micro/macroscopic model for simulation of dendritic alloy solidification. Microscopic solutal non-equilibrium effects have been included in the macroscopic modeling of solidification by using a fixed grid dual scale numerical approach. Salient features of the present approach include a continuum model for conservation of mass, momentum, energy and species on the macroscopic scale, a microscopic solute redistribution model, and the solution procedure and auxiliary equations necessary for coupling between the two models. The coupling between macro and micro scale models is practically made possible by introducing an iterative micro/macro time step scheme. The local solidification rate is calculated by implicit iterations of macroscopic conservation equations and the microscopic solute redistribution model. The present model is capable to simulate eutectic reaction, local re-melting, and account for the inter-linkage between micro and macroscopic solute redistribution (micro and macrosegregation).     

Numerical simulation of incompressible flow driven by density variations during phase change1

A change in density during the solidification of alloys can be an important driving force for convection, especially at reduced levels of gravity. A model is presented that accounts for shrinkage during the directional solidification of dendritic binary alloys under the assumption that the densities of the liquid and solid phases are different but constant. This leads to a non‐homogeneous mass conservation equation, which is numerically treated in a finite element formulation with a variable penalty coefficient that can resolve the velocity field correctly in the all‐liquid region and in the mushy zone. The stability of the flow when shrinkage interacts with buoyancy flows at low gravity is examined. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

定向凝固多晶铁磁形状记忆合金力-温度耦合的实验研究

铁磁形状记忆合金兼具大输出应变与高响应频率等综合特性,是新一代驱动与传感材料。采用定向凝固技术制成的多晶铁磁形状记忆合金具有较多优越的力学性能。本文对温度和应力耦合作用下的定向凝固多晶铁磁形状记忆合金的力学特性进行了实验测试,分别获得了定向凝固多晶Ni-Mn-Ga试样在不同恒定温度时的应力-应变循环曲线,以及试样在压缩时两个互相垂直方向的数字散斑图。结果表明:同一恒定温度时,随着应力循环次数的增加,其应变值逐渐减小;同一压缩应力时,不同温度作用过程中定向凝固方向的应力,随着温度的升高逐渐减小。本文结果可为铁磁形状记忆合金在工程中的应用提供一定的指导作用。     

On the constitutive modeling of coupled thermomechanical phase-change problems

This paper deals with a thermodynamically consistent numerical formulation for coupled thermoplastic problems including phase-change phenomena and frictional contact. The final goal is to get an accurate, efficient and robust numerical model, able for the numerical simulation of industrial solidification processes. Some of the current issues addressed in the paper are the following. A fractional step method arising from an operator split of the governing differential equations has been used to solve the nonlinear coupled system of equations, leading to a staggered product formula solution algorithm. Nonlinear stability issues are discussed and isentropic and isothermal operator splits are formulated. Within the isentropic split, a strong operator split design constraint is introduced, by requiring that the elastic and plastic entropy, as well as the phase-change induced elastic entropy due to the latent heat, remain fixed in the mechanical problem. The formulation of the model has been consistently derived within a thermodynamic framework. All the material properties have been considered to be temperature dependent. The constitutive behavior has been defined by a thermoviscous/elastoplastic free energy function, including a thermal multiphase change contribution. Plastic response has been modeled by a J2 temperature dependent model, including plastic hardening and thermal softening. The constitutive model proposed accounts for a continuous transition between the initial liquid state, the intermediate mushy state and the final solid state taking place in a solidification process. In particular, a pure viscous deviatoric model has been used at the initial fluid-like state. A thermomecanical contact model, including a frictional hardening and temperature dependent coupled potential, is derived within a fully consistent thermodinamical theory. The numerical model has been implemented into the computational finite element code COMET developed by the authors. Numerical simulations of solidification processes show the good performance of the computational model developed.     

A Three-Dimensional Model of Two-Phase Flows in a Porous Medium Accounting for Motion of the Liquid–Liquid Interface

A new three-dimensional hydrodynamic model for unsteady two-phase flows in a porous medium, accounting for the motion of the interface between the flowing liquids, is developed. In a minimum number of interpretable geometrical assumptions, a complete system of macroscale flow equations is derived by averaging the microscale equations for viscous flow. The macroscale flow velocities of the phases may be non-parallel, while the interface between them is, on average, inclined to the directions of the phase velocities, as well as to the direction of the saturation gradient. The last gradient plays a specific role in the determination of the flow geometry. The resulting system of flow equations is a far generalization of the classical Buckley–Leverett model, explicitly describing the motion of the interface and velocity of the liquid close to it. Apart from propagation of the two liquid volumes, their expansion or contraction is also described, while rotation has been proven negligible. A detailed comparison with the previous studies for the two-phase flows accounting for propagation of the interface on micro- and macroscale has been carried out. A numerical algorithm has been developed allowing for solution of the system of flow equations in multiple dimensions. Sample computations demonstrate that the new model results in sharpening the displacement front and a more piston-like character of displacement. It is also demonstrated that the velocities of the flowing phases may indeed be non-collinear, especially at the zone of intersection of the displacement front and a zone of sharp permeability variation.     

Exact solutions of solid-liquid phase-change heat transfer when subjected to convective boundary conditions

A closed-form expression is presented to find the location of solid-liquid interface motion in convection-dominated solidification and melting problems. In this regard, the solutions are expressed in terms of the generalized representations of error functions,E (u, v) andF (u, v), which are useful to heat-conduction problems with convective-type boundary conditions. It is demonstrated that for constant surface temperature, the interface solution reduces to the classical Neumann solution.     

Numerical modelling of a melting-solidification cycle of a phase-change material with complete or partial melting

A high accuracy numerical model is used to simulate an alternate melting and solidification cycle of a phase change material (PCM). We use a second order (in time and space) finite-element method with mesh adaptivity to solve a single-domain model based on the Navier-Stokes-Boussinesq equations. An enthalpy method is applied to the energy equation. A Carman-Kozeny type penalty term is introduced in the momentum equation to bring the velocity to zero inside the solid region. The mesh is dynamically adapted at each time step to accurately capture the interface between solid and liquid phases, the boundary-layer structure at the walls and the multi-cellular unsteady convection in the liquid. We consider the basic configuration of a differentially heated square cavity filled with an octadecane paraffin and use experimental and numerical results from the literature to validate our numerical system. The first study case considers the complete melting of the PCM (liquid fraction of 95%), followed by a complete solidification. For the second case, the solidification is triggered after a partial melting (liquid fraction of 50%). Both cases are analysed in detail by providing temporal evolution of the solid-liquid interface, liquid fraction, Nusselt number and accumulated heat input. Different regimes are identified during the melting-solidification process and explained using scaling correlation analysis. Practical consequences of these two operating modes are finally discussed.     

An Analysis of Phase‐Field Alloys and Transition Layers

A phase‐field approach to binary alloys is studied. Formal asymptotics of the system of parabolic differential equations leads to new interface relations as part of a macroscopic model which arises in the limit of vanishing interface thickness. Under suitable conditions we prove that the phase‐field system has a unique solution which converges to the limiting macroscopic solution. The concentration and phase are monotonic across the interface for a simplified system. Transition layers in concentration are induced due to the change in phase and the change in material diffusion across the interface. Excess impurities may be trapped as a consequence of these layers. (Accepted October 28, 1996)     

Influence of interfaces on effective properties of nanomaterials with stochastically distributed spherical inclusions

The method of conditional moments is generalized to include evaluation of the effective elastic properties of particulate nanomaterials and to investigate the size effect in those materials. Determining the effective constants necessitates finding a stochastically averaged solution to the fundamental equations of linear elasticity coupled with surface/interface conditions (Gurtin–Murdoch model). To obtain such a solution the system of governing stochastic differential equations is first transformed to an equivalent system of stochastic integral equations. Using statistical averaging, the boundary-value problem is then converted to an infinite system of linear algebraic equations. A two-point approximation is considered and the stress fluctuations within the inclusions are neglected in order to obtain a finite system of algebraic equations in terms of component-average strains. Closed-form expressions are derived for the effective moduli of a composite consisting of a matrix and randomly distributed spherical inhomogeneities. As a numerical example a nanoporous material is investigated assuming a model in which the interface effects influence only the bulk modulus of the material. In that model the resulting shear modulus is the same as for the material without surface effects. Dependence of the bulk moduli on the radius of nanopores and on the pore volume fraction is analyzed. The results are compared to, and discussed in the context of other theoretical predictions.     

Sediment flow in inclined vessels calculated using a multiphase particle-in-cell model for dense particle flows

Sedimentation of particles in an inclined vessel is predicted using a two-dimensional, incompressible, multiphase particle-in-cell (MP-PIC) method. The numerical technique solves the governing equations of the fluid phase using a continuum model and those of the particle phase using a Lagrangian model. Mapping particle properties to an Eulerian grid and then mapping back computed stress tensors to particle positions allows a complete solution of sedimentation from a dilute mixture to close-pack. The solution scheme allows for distributions of types, sizes and density of particles, with no numerical diffusion from the Lagrangian particle calculations. The MP-PIC solution method captures the physics of inclined sedimentation which includes the clarified fluid layer under the upper wall, a dense mixture layer above the bottom wall, and instabilities which produce waves at the clarified fluid and suspension interface. Measured and calculated sedimentation rates are in good agreement.     

A finite element analysis of a free surface drainage problem of two immiscible fluids

A sharp interface problem arising in the flow of two immiscible fluids, slag and molten metal in a blast furnace, is formulated using a two-dimensional model and solved numerically. This problem is a transient two-phase free or moving boundary problem, the slag surface and the slag–metal interface being the free boundaries. At each time step the hydraulic potential of each fluid satisfies the Laplace equation which is solved by the finite element method. The ordinary differential equations determining the motion of the free boundaries are treated using an implicit time-stepping scheme. The systems of linear equations obtained by discretization of the Laplace equations and the equations of motion of the free boundaries are incorporated into a large system of linear equations. At each time step the hydraulic potential in the interior domain and its derivatives on the free boundaries are obtained simultaneously by solving this linear system of equations. In addition, this solution directly gives the shape of the free boundaries at the next time step. The implicit scheme mentioned above enables us to get the solution without handling normal derivatives, which results in a good numerical solution of the present problem. A numerical example that simulates the flow in a blast furnace is given.     

Sediment flow in inclined vessels calculated using a multiphase particle-in-cell model for dense particle flows

Sedimentation of particles in an inclined vessel is predicted using a two-dimensional, incompressible, multiphase particle-in-cell (MP-PIC) method. The numerical technique solves the governing equations of the fluid phase using a continuum model and those of the particle phase using a Lagrangian model. Mapping particle properties to an Eulerian grid and then mapping back computed stress tensors to particle positions allows a complete solution of sedimentation from a dilute mixture to close-pack. The solution scheme allows for distributions of types, sizes and density of particles, with no numerical diffusion from the Lagrangian particle calculations. The MP-PIC solution method captures the physics of inclined sedimentation which includes the clarified fluid layer under the upper wall, a dense mixture layer above the bottom wall, and instabilities which produce waves at the clarified fluid and suspension interface. Measured and calculated sedimentation rates are in good agreement.     

Migration-collision scheme of Lattice Boltzmann method for heat conduction problems involving solidification

The phase-change problem is solved by the migration-collision scheme of lattice Boltzmann method. After formula derivation, we find that this method can give a rigorous numerical value for the phase-change temperature, which is of crucial importance. One-dimensional solidification in half-space and two-dimensional solidification in a corner are simulated. The phase change temperature and the liquid-solid interface are both obtained, and the results conform to the analytical solution.     

Analysis of Natural Convection During Solidification of a Pure Metal

A numerical study of solidification of gallium in a closed cavity is presented and the influence of natural convection on phase change is investigated.

The mathematical formulation is based on the enthalpy-porosity method, while the equations are discretized on a fixed grid by means of a finite volume technique. Advancing in time is obtained using the SIMPLE algorithm, while the solution of the elliptic equation for pressure correction is obtained by means of a preconditioned BI-CGStab method.

As a test case a square cavity with Ra ranging from 4.68 × 10³ to 9.36 × 10⁵ is adopted. Results will be presented in terms of streamlines, isotherms, solid-liquid interface position and Nu and compared, when possible with available data.