A numerical study of the turbulent flow of molten steel in a domain with a phase-change boundary

Abstract

A numerical algorithm, based on the Galerkin finite element method and the enthalpy formulation, is developed for solving the coupled turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer problem in a domain with a moving phase-change boundary. The governing equations consist of the continuity equation, the Navier-Stokes equations, the energy equation and the modified K-ε equations. The formulation of the method is cast into the framework of the Bubnov-Galerkin finite element method. A numerical study shows that the developed numerical algorithm is stable and capable of capturing the rapid change of temperature and velocity near the phase-change boundary. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.