For a diffusion-controlled mushy layer of constant solid fraction , a sharp moving edge reduces the thermal heat equation to and the exterior solute diffusion equation to , where is the Lewis number. Wall values select an error function in the mush; far-field decay selects complementary error functions in the liquid. Continuity fixes their amplitudes in terms of the interfacial temperature and . The Stefan condition, solute conservation and marginal equilibrium at a mush-liquid boundary give three algebraic/transcendental equations for these two constants and . Derivation follows by and , followed by one integration . Dividing interface equations can discard degenerate branches, so the undivided equations must be retained when a denominator vanishes. Physical admissibility additionally requires and .
Write , and assume these scales are nonzero. The two reference liquidus relations imply . For the similarity variable and front ,
Thus a temperature profile has and . Each heat equation becomes . The solute diffusion equation becomes , with
This Lewis number compares thermal and solutal diffusivities. Inside the mushy layer, gives . The wall and far-field conditions become and as .
At the moving phase boundary, equality of temperatures gives . Equality of concentrations gives . Therefore the dimensionless parameters with the convention used here are
Neither concentration nor temperature offsets should be dropped when enforcing continuity. In particular can be negative. If , then : this is the inverse Stefan number, although the paper calls its Stefan number.
To check every factor of two in the flux conditions, divide the thermal Stefan condition by , and the solute balance by . This gives
Finally and imply . This is marginal equilibrium at a mush-liquid boundary. Together these calculations produce all the rescaled differential equations and all three interface balances.