• 한국가시화정보학회지
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.52-57
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• 2003

The present paper investigated the effect of ultrasonic vibrations on the melting process of a phase-change material (PCM). The melting process in the square cavity with a heated vertical wall has been studied in terms of acoustic streaming. In the present study, applying with ultrasonic vibrations to the liquid were found to induce acoustic streaming which was clearly observed using by a particle image velocimetry (PIV) and a thermal infrared camera. The experimental results revealed that acoustic streaming could accelerate the melting process as much as 2.5 times, compared to the rate of natural melting (i. e., the melting without acoustic streaming). In addition, temperature and Nusselt numbers over time provided conclusive evidence of the important role of the acoustic streaming on the melting phenomena of the PCM.