Experimental Study on Melting in a Rectangular Enclosure Heated Below with Discrete Heat Sources

lntroductionSolid-liquid phase change hed transfer involvingmelhng and solidification has received considerableattenhon for many years because of its wide-rangingaPplicationsI']. Generall speaking, there are tWo kindsof melting phenomena: fixed melting""l and contactmelhng',]. In the case of fixed mehng, the solid phasechange material is forced to rehan stahonary and themelted liquid takes up the space betWeen the solid-liquldinteiface and the hea source schce. In the case ofcontaCt melhng,…

Experimental study on melting in a rectangular enclosure heated below with discrete heat sources

The melting process of n-octadecane in a rectangular cavity with three discrete protruding heat sources on its bottom surface was studied experimentally. It was observed that the experimental process, for the geometric arrangement in this paper, is neither a fixed melting nor a contact melting, but one m which fixed melting and contact melting take place alternatively. The effects of Stefan number, initial subcooling and aspect ratio on the melting process are reported. The larger the Stefan number, the more frequently the contact melting may occur, so does the aspect ratio. The initial subcooling plays a role only in early stage. As the melting process proceeds, its effect on the melting process becomes less.