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Radial Solidification Front: In-Space Rod Casting

Interactive 2D finite-difference simulator of a metal rod's cross-section cooling in orbital vacuum versus Earth atmosphere: a real heat-conduction PDE with a Stefan-problem moving solidification front, driven by Stefan-Boltzmann radiative boundary loss instead of the 0-D lumped model used for a single droplet.

Aerospace Engineering & Orbital Mechanics2DAdvanced60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 3D version

Cooling a metal part in orbit isn't just "slower" than on Earth — it cools unevenly, because with no air to carry heat away by convection, only the exposed surface can radiate, while the interior can only give up heat by conducting outward through material that is itself cooling. This simulator solves that 2D heat-conduction problem directly across a rod's circular cross-section, cell by cell, with a physically real Stefan-problem solidification front that creeps inward from the rim rather than a single "solid/liquid" flag. Toggle between orbital vacuum and Earth atmosphere and tune starting temperature, surface emissivity and rod radius to see how the core-to-surface temperature gap and the shape of the advancing solid shell change — the same core-vs-skin cooling asymmetry that continuous-casting and orbital-manufacturing engineers have to design a process around.

⚙ Under the hood

A 2D finite-difference simulator of a metal rod's circular cross-section cooling in orbital vacuum versus Earth atmosphere: unlike a single-temperature lumped model, this solves the real heat-conduction PDE cell by cell, with Stefan-Boltzmann radiative (and, on Earth, convective) loss only at the exposed boundary, producing a genuine Stefan-problem solidification front that creeps inward from the surface.

space manufacturingheat conductionfinite differencesolidificationstefan problemaerospace engineeringmetallurgy

2D · HTML5 Canvas 2D · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install