Numerical simulation of quenching process using an adaptative levelset method

Abstract : We present in this paper the thermal modelling of the quenching process. Different stages of such process need to be treated, from nucleate boiling to generation and growth of a vapour film. A convected LevelSet method is used to separate and localize each phase. Thus, a single mesh is considered on which one set of equations with different materials properties (fluid-solid) is solved. Using such monolithic approach, each phase is geometrically represented by the Levelset function and the heat exchange between them is treated naturally without using empirical heat transfer coefficients. The numerical simulation of a single vapour bubble growth is also presented. The interface growth velocity is computed using the Gibbs Thomson relation. We verify and compare with the literature that the bubble radius is proportional to the square root of time. The surface tension is included and we show that it plays an important role on the final shape of the rising bubble. It requires the computation of the local curvature which is obtained from the second derivative of the LevelSet function. The Navier Stokes equations are solved using a recently developed stabilized finite element method. Furthermore, the proposed method demonstrates the capability of the model to simulate the generation and the detachment of a vapour film during a 3D quenching process,