| Abstract: | A low‐dimensional spectral method is used to solve the transient axisymmetric free surface flow inside thin cavities of arbitrary shape. The flow field is obtained on the basis of the lubrication equations, which are expanded in terms of orthonormal functions over the cavity gap. The formulation accounts for nonlinearities stemming from inertia and front location. The work is of close relevance to the filling stage during die casting, and injection molding, or the flow inside annular (extrusion) dies. Both flows under an imposed flow rate, and an imposed pressure at the cavity entrance are examined. The influence of inertia, aspect ratio, gravity, and wall geometry on the evolution of the front, flow rate, and pressure is assessed particularly in the early stage of flow, when a temporal behavior of the ‘boundary‐layer’ type develops. The multiple‐scale method is applied to obtain an approximate solution at small Reynolds number, Re. Comparison with the exact (numerical) solution indicates a wide range of validity for the multiple‐scale approach, including the moderately small Re range. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
