Numerical Simulation of Natural Convection in a Circular Enclosure

In this research, a fixed-grid finite volume numerical approach is developed and used to simulate unsteady natural convection flow during freezing of water in a circular enclosure. This approach is based on the enthalpy-porosity method which is used to track the motion of the liquid-solid front and to obtain the freezing length and time of the solidification. The Navier-Stokes equations are solved on a staggered mesh by pressure-based implicit procedure. Results of the solidification are then validated against published results. Findings show a remarkable quality of the simulation of solidification problems.