An experiment of close contact melting of phase-change medium partially filled in an isothermally heated horizontal cylinder is performed which involves the volume expansion of liquid induced by the solid-liquid density difference. The solid-liquid interface motion and the free surface behavior of liquid were reported photographically. The experimental results show that the curvature of upper solid-liquid interface varied to flat as melting progresses. In addition to the varying interface shape, the melting rate increases with the lower initial height of solid and the free surface height of liquid increases linearly. The experimental results of molten mass fraction were expressed in a function of dimensionless time Fo.Ste$^{3}$4/ and agreed well with the analytical solutions.