A numerical approach for the solution of coupled fluid-solid and thermal stress problems in crystal growth processes

A multigrid finite-volume method for the prediction of thermally coupled fluid-solid problems is applied to crystal growth processes involving heat transfer, thermal stress formation, fluid flow, and mass transfer. For the fluid-solid coupling an unified finite-volume approach, based on the concept of block-structured grids, is employed. A high numerical efficiency is obtained by a global nonlinear multigrid method with a pressure-correction based scheme as smoother. As an exemplary application the scheme is applied to investigate the growth process of silicon carbide bulk crystals. The analysis of a typical growth process shows that temperature inhomogeneities in the growing crystal induce severe thermal stress levels. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.