2D and 3D Numerical Modeling of Solidification Benchmark of Sn-3Pb (wt.) Alloy under Natural Convection

摘要

Comparison of experimental data obtained in a benchmark experiment of solidification of a Sn-3%wt.Pb ingot and numerical results of two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations of the process is presented. The benchmark experiment consisted in solidifying a rectangular ingot of Sn-3%wt.Pb alloy using two heat exchangers. Conditions of solidification were thoroughly controlled due to six thermocouples embedded into each heat exchanger. Due to an array of fifty K-type thermocouples placed on the largest surfaces of the crucible the evolution of the temperature field was registered at each second during the whole experiment. A treatment of the temperature data provided an estimation of the velocity field in the experiment. The macrostructure and a qualitative pattern of segregation in the solidified sample were obtained in post-mortem analyses. Using the thermal data from the experiment, the 2D and 3D numerical simulations of the ingot solidification were performed.