Influence of non‐isothermal fluid properties on the growth of spherical fluid shells

Abstract

This numerical study explores the influence of the time dependence of material fluid parameters on the transient temperature evolution during the growth of fluid shells. The shell is spherical, the fluid is Newtonian, and the flow is induced by a constant driving pressure. The coupled heat and flow equations are solved numerically using the cobody (Lagrangian) transformation and a central difference discretization in space. The range of material values is adjusted from existing experiments. It is generally found that the variation in viscosity, surface tension and specific heat can have a significant influence on both the growth rate and temperature evolution. Thermal conductivity is found to be of little influence.