Enhanced Heat Transfer and Melting of PCM in Cavities with Bimetallic Flexible Fins: Numerical Investigation

This study investigates numerically the effects of a bimetallic flexible fin on the heat transfer and melting process of liquid phase change material (PCM) within a cavity. The bimetallic fin is attached to the left heated wall of the cavity. The governing equations of the system model in the fluid and structure domains are written in the Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) formulation and then solved by the Multiphysics commercial software (COMSOL 6.1). The results demonstrate that the bimetallic flexible fin significantly enhances heat transfer compared to a fixed fin, leading to faster melting of the PCM for different values of Rayleigh number. Moreover, the bimetallic fin configuration leads to a more uniform temperature distribution and faster melting time (up to 11% reduction) compared to the fixed fin.