In this paper, a classical Stefan problem with a prescribed and small time-dependent temperature at the boundary is studied. By using a multiple time-scales perturbation method, it is shown analytically how the moving boundary profile is influenced by the prescribed temperature at the boundary and the initial conditions. Only a few exact solutions are available for this type of problems and it turns out that the constructed approximations agree very well with these exact solutions. In particular, approximations of solutions for this type of problems, with periodic and decaying temperatures at the boundary, are constructed. Furthermore, these approximations are valid on a long time scale, and seems to be not available in the literature.

In this paper, a classical Stefan problem is studied. It is assumed that a small, time-dependent heat influx is present at the boundary, and that the initial values are small. By using a multiple timescales perturbation approach, it is shown analytically (most likely for the first time in the literature) how the moving interface and its stability are influenced by the time-dependent heat influx at the boundary and by the initial conditions. Accurate approximations of the solution of the problem are constructed, which are valid on long timescales. The constructed approximations turn out to agree very well with solutions of problems for which similarity solutions are available (in numerical form).