Simulation of dendritic crystal growth with thermal convection

  • Eberhard Bänsch

    Universität Erlangen-Nünberg, Germany
  • Alfred Schmidt

    Universität Freiburg, Germany

Abstract

The dendritic growth of crystals under gravity influence shows a strong dependence on convection in the liquid. The situation is modelled by the Stefan problem with a Gibbs-Thomson condition coupled with the Navier-Stokes equations in the liquid phase. A finite element method for the numerical simulation of dendritic crystal growth including convection effects is presented. It consists of a parametric finite element method for the evolution of the interface, coupled with finite element solvers for the heat equation and Navier-Stokes equations in a time dependent domain. Results from numerical simulations in two space dimensions with Dirichlet and transparent boundary conditions are included.

Cite this article

Eberhard Bänsch, Alfred Schmidt, Simulation of dendritic crystal growth with thermal convection. Interfaces Free Bound. 2 (2000), no. 1, pp. 95–115

DOI 10.4171/IFB/14