NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Towards and FVE-FAC Method for Determining Thermocapillary Effects on Weld Pool ShapeSeveral practical materials processes, e.g., welding, float-zone purification, and Czochralski crystal growth, involve a pool of molten metal with a free surface, with strong temperature gradients along the surface. In some cases, the resulting thermocapillary flow is vigorous enough to convect heat toward the edges of the pool, increasing the driving force in a sort of positive feedback. In this work we examine this mechanism and its effect on the solid-liquid interface through a model problem: a half space of pure substance with concentrated axisymmetric surface heating, where surface tension is strong enough to keep the liquid free surface flat. The numerical method proposed for this problem utilizes a finite volume element (FVE) discretization in cylindrical coordinates. Because of the axisymmetric nature of the model problem, the control volumes used are torroidal prisms, formed by taking a polygonal cross-section in the (r, z) plane and sweeping it completely around the z-axis. Conservation of energy (in the solid), and conservation of energy, momentum, and mass (in the liquid) are enforced globally by integrating these quantities and enforcing conservation over each control volume. Judicious application of the Divergence Theorem and Stokes' Theorem, combined with a Crank-Nicolson time-stepping scheme leads to an implicit algebraic system to be solved at each time step. It is known that near the boundary of the pool, that is, near the solid-liquid interface, the full conduction-convection solution will require extremely fine length scales to resolve the physical behavior of the system. Furthermore, this boundary moves as a function of time. Accordingly, we develop the foundation of an adaptive refinement scheme based on the principles of Fast Adaptive Composite Grid methods (FAC). Implementation of the method and numerical results will appear in a later report.
Document ID
19970006869
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Canright, David
(Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA United States)
Henson, Van Emden
(Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA United States)
Date Acquired
August 17, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 1996
Publication Information
Publication: Seventh Copper Mountain Conference on Multigrid Methods
Issue: Part 1
Subject Category
Solid-State Physics
Accession Number
97N13762
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: N00014-92-WR-24009
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
Document Inquiry

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available