Métodos baseados em volumes finitos aplicados a problemas de dinâmica dos fluidos e de mudança de fase

Abstract

Several applications related to continuum mechanics deal with processes as such as solidification and melting of materials, natural convection, stress and strains in solids, among other phenomena. In the defense industry, for example, the manufacture of explosive materials such as large-caliber grenades, requires care in the handling process, proper filling and cooling of molten energetic materials in molds. Inadequate monitoring of these steps results in contractions, hot tearings, air bubbles, and material supression from its mold, which can lead from excessive production costs to catastrophic failures related to the final product. In this way, the development of mathematical models, the implementation of techniques and use of existing computational tools allow the study, the prediction and simulation of these phenomena with low financial cost and with results as reliable as experimentation. Regarding to computational methodologies, techniques such as the Finite Volume Method and the Finite Element Method are widely used in discretization and solution processes of the partial differential equations sets that govern the phenomena found in these processes. An alternative that combines characteristics of both Finite Element Method and Finite Volume Method, known as Control Volume Finite Element Method is one of the focuses presented in this work. Besides, the computational tool OpenFOAM, a set of open source applications focused on general problems of continuum mechanics will also be addressed. Several problems in the areas of fluid dynamics and phase change will be presented to illustrate such applications.