Temperature distributions in the molten layer and solid with distinct properties around a bubble or particle entrapped in the solid during unidirectional solidification are determined by applying a heat-balance integral approximation method. The present model can be used to simulate growth, entrapment or departure of a bubble or particle inclusion in solids encountered in manufacturing and materials processing, MEMS, contact melting processes. drilling. etc. In this work, the proposed heat-balance equations are derived by integrating unsteady elliptic heat diffusion equations and introducing the Stefan boundary condition. Due to the time-dependent irregular shapes of phases, coefficients of assumed quadratic temperature profiles are considered to be functions of longitudinal coordinate and time. Temperature coefficients in distinct regions therefore are determined by solving equations governing temperature coefficients derived from heat-balance equations, imposing boundary conditions, and introducing a fictitious boundary condition. The computed temperature fields show agreement with predictions from the finite-difference method. Since the number of independent variables is reduced by one, this work provides an effective method to solve unsteady elliptic diffusion problems experiencing solid-liquid phase changes in irregular shapes. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.