The molten pool shape and thermocapillary convection during melting or welding of metals or alloys are self-consistently predicted from parametric scale analysis for the first time. Determination of the molten pool shape is crucial due to its close relationship with the strength and properties of the fusion zone. In this work, surface tension coefficient is considered to be negative values, indicating an outward surface flow, whereas high Prandtl number represents the thermal boundary layer thickness to be less than that of momentum. Since Marangoni number is usually very high, the scaling of transport processes is divided into the hot, intermediate and cold corner regions on the flat free surface, boundary layers on the solid-liquid interface and ahead of the melting front. Coupling among distinct regions and thermal and momentum boundary layers, the results find that the width and depth of the pool can be determined as functions of Marangoni, Prandtl, Peclet, Stefan, and beam power numbers. The predictions agree with numerical computations and available experimental data.
Stellar Convection as a Low Prandtl Number Flow
