FINITE-ELEMENT FORMULATION FOR FILLING A THIN-SECTION CAVITY

Presents a quasi three-dimensional formulation for filling a thin sect ion cavity which is derived under the assumption that no transverse fl ow occurs in the gap. A no-slip condition was applied on all surfaces occupied by the fluid and a slip condition on all air-filled (empty) s urfaces. The formulation was developed to analyse the sections which l ie in the xy-plane or may be oriented arbitrarily in three-dimensional space. Solves the discretized thickness-integrated finite element flo w equations by using the implicit mixed velocity-pressure formulation, and uses the volume of fluid (VOF) method to track the free surfaces. Presents numerical examples which confirm the accuracy of the formula tion and demonstrate how it can be used to model the filling of planar and three-dimensional thin section cavities of irregular shape.