A hybrid Cartesian/immersed-boundary finite-element method for simulating heat and flow patterns in a two-roll mill

Abstract

This article describes numerical investigations of the flow and heat patterns in a two-roll mill using the immersed-boundary finite-element method over a fixed Cartesian grid. The second-order projection method is used to advance the solution in time, and a structured linear-triangle element is employed for the spatial discretization. An easily implemented interpolation scheme is adopted to allow accurate imposition of the boundary conditions on an arbitrary shape. Two numerical experiments are carried out, including two-roll-mill flow generated by the two inner cylinders rotating independently in fixed locations and moving around the center of cavity. The physical characteristics, streamline topologies, and temperature contours are discussed for a range of the rotating velocities and Reynolds numbers. The accuracy and robustness of the developed numerical model are validated by results obtained from the unstructured finite element method.