Cyclic phase change with fluid flow

Cyclic phase change involves the successive freezing and melting of a region driven by a boundary temperature that cycles above and below the solid/liquid phase change temperature. In this paper, a recently proposed fixed grid phase change enthalpy method is modified and applied to cyclic solid/liquid phase change problems. The basic approach is demonstrated on application to a one-dimensional, heat conduction controlled phase change. Then the method is used to investigate a cyclic phase change problem that involves fluid flow. The interaction of the melting and freezing with the phase change leads to some interesting predictions for the location and shape of the solid/liquid interface. The results also indicate that melting cycles are more effective than freezing cycles.