Phase Change Material
This subnode should be used to specify the properties of a phase change material according to the apparent heat capacity formulation, when modeling heat transfer in solids, fluids, and porous media. This formulation gets its name from the fact that the latent heat is included as an additional term in the heat capacity. Up to five transitions in phase per material are supported.
Number of Phase Transitions
To display this section, click the Show button () and select Advanced Physics Options. The Number of phase transitions to model is set in this section. In most cases, only one phase transition is needed to simulate solidification, melting, or evaporation. If you want to model successive melting and evaporation, or any couple of successive phase transformations, choose an alternative value in the Number of phase transitions list. The maximum value is 5.
Depending on the Number of phase transitions, several parts display in the Phase Change section, and several Phase sections display underneath.
Density
This section is only available when the subnode is added under the Solid node. In this particular case, a single density should be defined for all phases to ensure mass conservation on the material frame. Default is taken From material. For User defined, enter a value or expression for ρ. Note that this setting overrides the setting in the Thermodynamics, Solid section of the parent Solid node.
Phase Change
The parameters for the definition of the transition temperature intervals are set in this section.
Each transition is assumed to occur smoothly in a temperature interval between Tpc, j → j + 1 − ΔTj → j + 1 ⁄ 2 and Tpc, j → j + 1 + ΔTj → j + 1 ⁄ 2, releasing a total heat per unit volume equal to Lj →j + 1.
The Phase change temperature between phase 1 and phase 2 Tpc1 → 2 should be set to define the center of the first transition interval. The default is 273.15 K. Enter any additional phase change temperatures as per the Number of phase transitions.
The Transition interval between phase 1 and phase 2 ΔT1 → 2 should be set to define the width of the first transition interval. The default is 10 K. Enter any additional transition intervals as per the Number of phase transitions.
The value of ΔTj → j + 1 must be strictly positive. A value near 0 K corresponds to a behavior close to a pure substance.
Open the Sketch section for more details about these parameters.
The Latent heat from phase 1 and phase 2 L1 → 2 should be set to define the total heat per unit volume released during the first transition. Enter any additional latent heat values as per the Number of phase transitions.
The value of Lj → j + 1 must be positive. The default is 333 kJ/kg, which corresponds to the latent heat of fusion of water at a pressure of 1 atm.
About the Phases
The different phases are ordered according to the temperatures of fusion. Hence, the material properties of phase 1 are valid when T < Tpc1 → 2 while the material properties of phase 2 hold for T > Tpc1 → 2.
When more than one transition is modeled, the number of phases exceeds 2 and new variables are created (for example, Tpc, 2 → 3, ΔT2 → 3 or L2 → 3). The phase change temperatures Tpcj → j + 1 are increasing and satisfy
This defines distinct domains of temperature bounded by Tpc, j − 1 → j and Tpc, j → j + 1 where the material properties of phase j only apply.
In addition, the values of ΔTj → j + 1 are chosen so that the ranges between Tpc, j → j + 1 − ΔTj → j + 1 ⁄ 2 and Tpc, j → j + 1 + ΔTj → j + 1 ⁄ 2 do not overlap. If this condition is not satisfied, unexpected behavior can occur because some phases would never form completely. The values of ΔTj → j + 1 must all be strictly positive.
Phase
In each Phase section (based on the Number of phase transitions), the thermal conductivity and thermodynamics properties of each phase must be set. Then, within the transition interval, there is a “mushy zone” with mixed material properties.
Select a Material, phase [1,2,...], which can point to any material in the model. The default uses the Domain material.
When the Phase Change Material subnode is added under a Solid node, the following material properties should be set:
Thermal conductivity ki. The default uses the material values for phase i. For User defined select Isotropic, Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic based on the characteristics of the thermal conductivity, and enter another value or expression. The default is 1 W/(m·K).
Heat capacity at constant pressure Cpi. The default is 4200 J/(kg·K).
Note that these settings override the settings of the Heat Conduction, Solid and Thermodynamics, Solid sections of the parent Solid node.
When the Phase Change Material subnode is added under a Fluid or Porous Medium node, the following material properties should be set:
Thermal conductivity ki. The default uses the material values for phase i. For User defined select Isotropic, Diagonal, Symmetric, or Anisotropic based on the characteristics of the thermal conductivity, and enter another value or expression. The default is 1 W/(m·K).
Density ρi. The default is 1000 kg/m3.
Heat capacity at constant pressure Cpi. The default is 4200 J/(kg·K).
Ratio of specific heats γi. The default is 1.1.
Note that these settings override the settings of the Heat Conduction, Fluid and Thermodynamics, Fluid sections of the parent node. In porous media, phase change is considered in the fluid material only.
When Surface-to-surface radiation is activated, the Opacity (Surface-to-Surface Radiation interface) subnode is automatically added to the entire selection, with Transparent option selected. The domain selection can’t be edited. To set some part of the domain as opaque, add a new Opacity (Surface-to-Surface Radiation interface) subnode from the context menu (right-click the parent node) or from the Physics toolbar, Attributes menu.
Phase Change: Application Library path Heat_Transfer_Module/Phase_Change/phase_change
Continuous Casting: Application Library path Heat_Transfer_Module/Thermal_Processing/continuous_casting
Cooling and Solidification of Metal: Application Library path Heat_Transfer_Module/Thermal_Processing/cooling_solidification_metal
Location in User Interface
Context menus
Heat Transfer in Solids>Solid>Phase Change Material
Heat Transfer in Fluids>Fluid>Phase Change Material
Heat Transfer in Porous Media>Porous Medium>Phase Change Material
More locations are available. For example:
Heat Transfer in Fluids>Solid>Phase Change Material
Ribbon
Physics Tab with Solid, Fluid, or Porous Medium selected in the model tree:
Attributes>Phase Change Material