variavel0=<b>Antonio Flavio Aires Rodrigues</b> - aflavio@mecanica.ufrgs.br UFRGS - LAMAC
<b>Horácio Antonio Vielmo</b> - vielmoh@mecanica.ufrgs.br UFRGS - DEMEC
<b>Milton Antonio Zaro</b> - zaro@ufrgs.br UFRGS
<b>Marcus Vinicius Andrade Bianchi</b> - marcus_bianchi@yahoo.com UFRGS
<b>Abstract.</b> An experimental and numerical analysis of unidirectional solidification is presented in this work. In order to enable the visualization of the process, high temperatures are avoided. Thus, materials with low melting point, below 50°C, translucent and transparent, are melted and solidified in a directional solidification system of cylindrical form. In order to control the process of solidification by pure diffusion, this solidification system has a cold system at the base. From the experiment some parameters are obtained, such as the temperature field and the position of the solid-liquid interface along the time. In the numeric of simulation the energy equation is solved, using the enthalpy formulation and a fixed mesh. The results are compared and analyzed in order to validate the simulation method. These results may be useful in future investigations related to melting/solidification problems.
<b>Keywords.</b> phase change, solidification, finite volume, enthalpy method.