Melting around a shaft rotating in a phase-change material (Q1261849)

We describe the thin-film melting of a block of solid phase-change material (the bearing) around a rotating cylinder (the shaft). The method is based on contact melting theory, which combines the Reynolds thin-film lubrication theory with an analysis of phase-change heat transfer in the melt. The paper addresses three limiting regimes of the contact melting phenomenon: (1) the long bearing with melting due to frictional heating in the melt layer; (2) the short bearing with melting due to frictional heating in the melt layer, and (3) the short bearing with melting due to a temperature difference imposed between the hot cylinder and the cold phase-change material.