Contact melting by a non-isothermal heating surface of arbitrary shape

Abstract

Contact melting a material by a moving heater of arbitrary shapes with non-isothermal working surface is systematically investigated. A pressure exerted by the heater continuously squeezes the molten layer out of the close-contact region. The melting material has non-linear physical properties including temperature dependent conductivity, viscosity and non-Newtonian behaviors. By using a scale analysis momentum and energy equations are simplified. An iterative numerical procedure based on a boundary elements method is developed. Computed results show a good agreement with the analytical solutions that are available for a parabolic isothermal heating surface and constant physical properties. Influences of temperature distributions along the working surface and lengths of the heater on the thickness of the molten layer are found. A comparison between these factors is made. An appropriate distribution of the heat source within the heater is also proposed. © 1995.