Numerical analysis of melting/solidification phenomena using the extended finite element method

Uchibori, Akihiro ; Ohshima, Hiroyuki

Melting/solidification is a key phenomenon in the several nuclear fuel cycle processes. In this paper, numerical analysis of the basic problems of melting/solidification using an extended finite element method is presented. The method is based on an enriched finite element interpolation to represent a discontinuous gradient of the temperature at a moving solid-liquid interface. This enables us to simulate movement of solid-liquid interface without the use of a moving mesh. The numerical solutions of the basic problems, a one-dimensional Stefan problem, a problem of solidification in a two-dimensional square corner and a problem of melting of a pure gallium, are compared to the exact solutions or the experimental data. Through these verifications, it is demonstrated that the extended finite element method can be applied to melting/solidification phenomena.