Adapted SIP Solver to Two Dimensional Unstructured Grids

Abstract

A better knowledge of solidification time of materials in foundry manufactures will help to reduce the cost production especially for shapes with complex geometries configuration. These shapes affect the solidification conditions and subsequent cooling. Numerical simulation and/or experiments facilitate selection of appropriate materials, reducing cycle times and minimizing production costs. In the present paper, simulations of heat transfer phenomena between metal and mould are rigorously done by solving the heat transfer balance between shape and mould during the phase change. Mathematical model of cooling is investigated, according to material phases change and the interface condition between mould and shape. Due to the complex geometry of the mould, finite volume method using generalized curvilinear formulation is described. A SIP (Strongly Implicit Procedure) solver is adapted in this scenario. The solver performance is compared with solutions of thermal evolution of a slab with infinite length and circular cross-section. Results shown that the iterative method using SIP solver has faster convergence, higher precision and lower cost in term of CPU time (Computing Process Unit) than the other solver available on literature. When the convergence criterion decrease from 10−5 to 10−3, the corresponding temperature difference is insignificant in this type of physical problem.