Analysis of transient heat conduction with phase changes by a boundary integral equation method Original Research Article

A combined method of a latent heat model and a boundary integral equation is presented for solving transient heat conduction problems with solidification and melting. Some typical problems are solved in order to confirm the validity of the proposed method. The present results show good agreement with results obtained by using finite difference, finite element and boundary element methods. It is shown that the method admits the use of rather large time steps and a relatively coarse mesh. The computational property of the function which is introduced in deriving the boundary integral equation is discussed in connection with a condition for smooth motion of the interface.