FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATION OF PHASE CHANGE USING CAPACITANCE METHODS

Abstract

Two capacitance methods for finite element simulation of phase change problems are introduced. One is the “accelerated effective capacity method,” which is derived from Poirier and Salcudean's effective capacity method, and the other is the “exact apparent capacity method,” which is derived from the traditional apparent capacity method. Both of these new methods are developed by allowing the width of the “musky range” in the original methods to approach zero in a limiting process. The new methods are easier to implement in existing heat conduction codes than are most other fixed-grid methods. The methods are tested on one- and two-dimensional Stefan problems that have analytical solutions. It is found that the new methods are superior to the apparent capacity method, and their performance is comparable to that of the original effective capacity method and the enthalpy method for the test cases considered.