Analyses of a melting phenomenon of a circular tube geometry for applications in a HCDA of a LMFBR

Abstract

In the present work, an analysis of the transient melting of a circular tube geometry maintained at its melting temperature induced by the flowing fluid through the pipe has been made. The solution is facilitated by coordinate transformations that immobilize the irregular moving boundary. Employing a finite difference method, numerical solutions are obtained for a wide range of Reynolds numbers and Stefan numbers and the results are presented in graphical forms. The results show that the shape of the melting wall surface, which is assumed to be initially a vertical shape, changes with time and gradually becomes an inclined surface. Both the shape of the solid-liquid interface where melting takes place and the movement of the interface are controlled by the Reynolds numbers and the Stefan numbers. As the Reynolds number and the Stefan number are increased, the heat transfer to the wall is also increased. When the Stefan number is increased while the Reynolds number is decreased, the slope of the solid-liquid interface becomes larger.