Finite element analysis of flow and heat transfer with moving free surface using fixed grid system

A numerical study was performed on flow and heat transfer involving moving free surfaces that occurs in mold filling processes such as casting and injection molding. In these problems, the calculation domain changes continuously and the numerical treatment of the moving interface tends to cause artificial diffusion. Among the solution algorithms based on the Eulerian method, the volume-of-fluid (VOF) method was used because the method is simple and efficient in handling the complex flow patterns inside the cavity. To solve the transport equation of free surface without artificial smearing of the interface the baby-cell method was employed in the geometric reconstruction of the free surface. Furthermore, a predictor–corrector method was adopted in the time integration of volume-of-fluid (VOF) transport equation to increase the accuracy. The proposed scheme was verified through several benchmark problems. In order to show the capability of the proposed method, several three-dimensional mold filling processes were solved. The current algorithm was applied to the floating body problem. Three-dimensional floating body problems were tested.