A Sharp Numerical Method for the Simulation of Stefan Problems with Convective Effects

TL;DR

This paper introduces a high-accuracy numerical method for simulating Stefan problems with convective effects, combining level-set interface tracking, adaptive grids, and a pressure-free Navier-Stokes solver.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel sharp interface numerical approach that accurately models interfacial growth with fluid flow, improving upon existing methods in precision and efficiency.

Findings

Validated with convergence tests against synthetic solutions.

Successfully simulated ice formation with good agreement to experiments.

Analyzed effects of Reynolds and Stefan numbers on interface evolution.

Abstract

We present a numerical method for the solution of interfacial growth governed by the Stefan model coupled with incompressible fluid flow. An algorithm is presented which takes special care to enforce sharp interfacial conditions on the temperature, the flow velocity and pressure, and the interfacial velocity. The approach utilizes level-set methods for sharp and implicit interface tracking, hybrid finite-difference/finite-volume discretizations on adaptive quadtree grids, and a pressure-free projection method for the solution of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The method is first verified with numerical convergence tests using a synthetic solution. Then, computational studies of ice formation on a cylinder in crossflow are performed and provide good quantitative agreement with existing experimental results, reproducing qualitative phenomena that have been observed in past experiments. Finally, we investigate the role of varying Reynolds and Stefan numbers on the emerging interface morphologies and provide new insights around the time evolution of local and average heat transfer at the interface.