The control of the solidification process is a key challenge in thermal engineering and materials processing due to the direct impact on the microstructure, mechanical strength and final product quality. In this study, we explore the impact of natural convection on the solidification of pure tin metal inside a quasi-2D trapezoidal cavity. Our objective is to observe the wall inclination and cooling rate effects during the solidification process. To capture this process, we use the enthalpy–porosity model which accounts for the release of latent heat and treats the mushy zone as a porous medium described by the liquid fraction. The finite element method is used to solve the equations of heat transfer and fluid flow. The outcomes found that the cooling rate affect the solidification process and interface morphology which shown by the decrease of the liquid fraction by approximately 46,51% and 59,22% for the rectangular and trapezoidal cavities, respectively. A good agreement of numerical simulation with experimental data was found to validate the proposed quasi-2D modelling approach.
Akkaoui et al. (2026) studied this question.