A heat balance integral method for estimating practical solidification parameters

A heat balance integral technique based on an enthalpy formulation of a metallurgical solidification problem is presented. Unlike the majority of previous heat balance integral methods the new technique can analyse situations in which the phase change takes place over a temperature range. This means that solidification parameters of practical significance may be efficiently estimated. An application of the new technique is made to a problem of binary alloy solidification. The results obtained are compared with existing numerical models.