The effect of melt removal by aerodynamic shear on melt-through of metal plates

Theoretical models are constructed for melt-through of metal plates under intense one-dimensional heating and tan- gential airflow. The limiting cases of complete melt reten- tion and complete melt removal are modeled by energy balances at the instant of melt-through, using the heat-balance integral method. The resulting semianalytical formulas agree well with computer solutions of one-dimensional, non- steady heat conduction for melting and vaporizing metal plates. For partial melt removal, the effect of shear in re- moving melt is modeled by a liquid pool of finite depth with a shear suddenly applied at the top surface. This is incorpo- rated in a dynamical calculation of the melting and vaporizing of the plate, using the heat-balance integral method and re- quiring solution of ordinary differential equations in time. Calculations show the transition from complete melt removal to complete melt retention when the heating rate is increased at fixed airflow.