Melting From a Horizontal Rotating Disk

Melting of a disk is facilitated by rotation. The problem is governed by a nondimensional parameter α which represents the relative importance of injection (melt) rate and rotation times viscosity. The nonlinear governing equations are solved by perturbations for small α and numerical integration for arbitrary α. Torque and heat transfer rates are found. The solution is one of the rare exact similarity solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations.