An experimental and numerical investigation of natural convection melting

The melting of a vertical ice cylinder in water is investigated in this pap er. The experiments were carried out in a water-filled cylindrical Perspex barrel with adiabatic walls for Rayleigh numbers of 0.22x10(8) and 0.475x10 (8). The ice crystal is suspended in the water and experimental images of t he natural convection melting process were obtained using both shadowgraphy and particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques. This data is compared wit h a numerical model which attempts to capture the melt-front on a fixed com putational grid. The numerical model takes into account the density inversi on effects in the water. The results show the applicability of PIV to this type of flow and demonstrate a simple numerical model to effectively resolv e the melting phenomenon. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.