SIMULATION OF MULTIPASS ZONE-REFINING PROCESSES WITHIN WHOLE INGOT

To extend previous works on the simulation of multipass zone-refining which is only applicable to a semi-infinite ingot, this study presents analog simulators for practical ingots of finite length. The structur e and operation of practical simulators are designed as well. Performa nce of the proposed multipass zone-refining simulators closely corresp onds to that of analytical solutions. Furthermore, the simulators can also be used to simulate zone refining with arbitrary initial distribu tions of solute, variable distribution coefficient, and variable zone length along the ingot.