Analysis of contact melting driven by surface heat flux around a cylinder

The contact melting of phase change material around a moving horizontal cylindrical heat source, which descended under its own weight, is investigated in this article. A melting model under constant surface heat flux is established. The analytical results for thickness and pressure distributions inside melt layer and steady melting velocity are obtained by using contact melting theory. The melting law is discussed, and compared with that of contact melting driven by temperature difference. It is found that quasi-steady melting velocity is determined by heat flux of heat source, and the variation of heat source density has less effect on melting velocity.