Discussion Forum

I have been working on simulating "periodic" melting and solidification of a composite wax using Laminar Flow (spf) and Heat Transfer in Fluids (ht) physics with a Non-Isothermal Flow1 (nitf1) coupling. The model is simulating a phase change material (wax) acting as an insulator by creating a thermal barrier. The wax thermal barrier would be found in the ceiling of an inhabitable living space with an attic space above. The idea is that in the summer, the attic gets very hot, and by utilizing the latent heat of fusion associated with the melting of the wax we can use the wax as an insulator. To simulate this, I have taken a realistic depth of material (1 cm) and added the following boundary conditions:

On the sides: Adiabatic conditions (no heat or mass transfer)
On the bottom: a convective heat transfer condition that simulates a cool room
On the top: a sinusoidal temperature change will cause a convective heat flux into the system. One sine wave models a hot day and a cooler night. This occurs for six days.

I continue to run the model, and I continue to encounter this error: "Internal Error xmesh Processing". The model never runs to completion.

I am assuming that it has something to do with the mesh, but I am not exactly sure. I cant find much literature on this error.

What does this error mean?