Numerical simulations of solidification around two tandemly-arranged circular cylinders under forced convection.

This paper presents a parametric numerical investigation of solidification around two cooled cylinders placed in tandem under forced convection. The front-tracking/finite difference method is used together with an interpolation technique for solving the phase change process. Evolution of the solidifying interface is followed by the front-tracking, and the interpolation handles the presence of the solid phase and the no-slip and constant isothermal boundary conditions. The effects of various non-dimensional parameters on the evolution of the solid phase such as the Reynolds number Re , the Stefan number St , the dimensionless temperature of the inflowing liquid θ 0 , the ratios of the thermal properties k sl and C psl , and the distance between two cylinders L are studied. The computational results show that the solidified region expands with an increase in k sl or L , or with a decrease in any one of Re, Pr, θ 0 . However, St and C psl have a minor effect on the final form of the solid phase. The effect of density difference between the solid and liquid phases, and results in the case of side-by-side arrangement are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]