Abstract

A finite element formulation for solving transient multidimensional phase-change problems considering advective effects is presented. This temperature-based formulation includes the definition of a phase-change function able to deal with classical isothermal and non-isothermal phase-change cases. Moreover, a new upwind weight function is defined in order to avoid numerical oscillations in problems with dominant advective effects. Further, some important aspects related to its numerical implementation are also addressed. The ability of this methodology is illustrated, firstly, in the solution of a one-dimensional test example. Finally, the numerical simulation of a direct-chill continuous casting process is performed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.