Nonlinear enthalpy transformation for transient convective phase change in Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH)

TL;DR

This paper introduces a nonlinear enthalpy transformation within an SPH framework to accurately model transient phase change and solidification, validated against multiple results and applied to plasma spraying.

Contribution

It presents a novel nonlinear enthalpy transformation method in SPH for better simulation of phase change and solidification processes.

Findings

Validated against experimental, analytical, and numerical data.

Accurately predicts droplet impact and solidification in plasma spraying.

Demonstrates robustness and accuracy of the new model.

Abstract

A three-dimensional model is presented for the prediction of solidification behavior using a nonlinear transformation of the enthalpy equation in a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) discretization. The effect of phase change in the form of release and absorption of latent heat is implemented implicitly as variable source terms in the enthalpy calculation. The developed model is validated against various experimental, analytical, and numerical results from the literature. Results confirm accuracy and robustness of the new procedure. Finally, the SPH model is applied to a study of suspension plasma spraying (SPS) by predicting the impact and solidification behavior of molten ceramic droplets on a substrate.