INFLUENCE OF HEAT TRANSFER ON MELTING AND SOLIDIFICATION IN FORCED FLOW

The solidification of fluids flowing along a plane wall or through a pipe is calculated with the assumption of a finite ambient heat transfer, and an imposed or known heat flux to the solid-liquid interface. A very good approximation is obtained if in the solid phase a parabolic temperature distribution is assumed which satisfies all boundary conditions and agrees with the energy equation only at the solidfluid interface. A comparison with measurements on an analog electrical model and with other numerical results shows that the error lies below 2·5 per cent. In pipe flow the growth of the solid layer, for certain values of the ambient heat transfer and heat flux at the fluid-solid interface, may come to a stop at two critical points of which one designates stable conditions, the other an unstable state. It depends on the preceding history of the solid phase whether a stable or an unstable point is attained. © 1969.