Difusão 3d em sólidos com forma arbitrária usando coordenadas generalizadas.

Abstract

This work presents a three-dimensional numerical solution for the diffusion equation in transient state, in an arbitrary domain. The diffusion equation was discretized using the finite volume method with a fully implicit formulation and generalized coordinates, for the equilibrium and convective boundary condition. For each time step, the system of equations obtained for a given structured mesh was solved by the Gauss-Seidel method. A computational code in FORTRAN, using the CFV 6.6.0 Studio, in a Windows Vista platform was developed. The proposed solution was validated by analytical and numerical solutions of the diffusion equation for several geometries. The geometries tested enabled to validate both orthogonal and non-orthogonal meshes. The analysis and comparison of the results showed that the proposed solution provides correct results for all cases investigated. The developed computational code was applied in the simulation, using experimental data of the drying of ceramic roof tiles, for the following experimental conditions: temperature from 55.6; 69.7; 82.7; 72.8 and 98.7 °C, initial moisture content from 0.2345 up to 0.2405 (d.b.). The simulation makes it possible to determine an expression for the diffusion coefficient as a function of the moisture content and temperature of the drying air, and also the value of the convective mass transfer coefficient corresponding to each temperature.