Isothermal wall condition is applied to the test cells with aspect ratios of 0.4, 1.0, and 2.5, respectively. It is shown that melting rates are increased in all present experiments. Melting enhancement is proportional to the vibration acceleration.
Aspect ratio plays an important role in phase change heat transfer mechanism.
It is observed that result of aspect ratio 1.0 corresponds to the lowest melting rate in both stationary and vibrating conditions. The relative melting enhancement by vibration for both high and low aspect ratio cases are significant. The increase of melting due to vibration is more visible in the low Ste number cases. Preliminary experiments indicated that horizontal vibration can be more effective means to improve phase change heat transfer.