Determination of one unknown thermal coefficient through the one-phase fractional Lam\'e-Clapeyron-Stefan problem

Abstract

We obtain explicit expressions for one unknown thermal coefficient (among the conductivity, mass density, specific heat and latent heat of fusion) of a semi-infinite material through the one-phase fractional Lam\'e-Clapeyron-Stefan problem with an over-specified boundary condition on the fixed face $x=0$. The partial differential equation and one of the conditions on the free boundary include a time Caputo's fractional derivative of order $\alpha \in (0,1) $. Moreover, we obtain the necessary and sufficient conditions on data in order to have a unique solution by using recent results obtained for the fractional diffusion equation exploiting the properties of the Wright and Mainardi functions, given in Roscani - Santillan Marcus, Fract. Calc. Appl. Anal., 16 (2013), 802-815, Roscani-Tarzia, Adv. Math. Sci. Appl., 24 (2014), 237-249, and Voller, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 74 (2014), 269-277. This work generalizes the method developed for the determination of unknown thermal coefficients for the classical Lam\'e-Clapeyron-Stefan problem given in Tarzia, Adv. Appl. Math., 3 (1982), 74-82, which are recovered by taking the limit when the order $\alpha\nearrow 1$.