AN ARBITRARY LAGRANGIAN-EULERIAN FINITE-ELEMENT MODEL FOR HEAT-TRANSFER ANALYSIS OF SOLIDIFICATION PROCESSES

A heat transfer analysis for solidification problems has been conducte d to evaluate the temperature field and the location of the phase-chan ge interface. An arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian kinematic description h as been utilized in the finite-element formulation to impart flexibili ty to the motion of the nodes. By detaching the nodal points from the underlying material, nodes can be monitored to follow the evolving fro nt, while maintaining shapes of the elements. Special numerical techni ques to smoothen the deforming front and to avoid continuous remeshing have been introduced. Numerical examples have been solved to establis h the validity of the present model and its strength.