CALCULATION OF THE FREE-SURFACE SHAPE IN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC PROCESSING OF LIQUID-METALS

An iterative numerical procedure has been developed to predict the fre e surface shape of the molten metal pool in electromagnetic processing techniques such as induction melting and semi-levitation melting. Thi s required the calculation of the free surface shape to be coupled wit h the calculation of the e.m. field The finite element method has been used to calculate the electromagnetic field and has included consider ation of the skin effect in all conductors. Special care was taken in discretizing the billet in order to obtain a good representation of th e change in the shape at the top. The pinch effect of the coil current on the free surface shape has been clearly shown The software has bee n used to predict the shape of the melt in a conventional coreless med ium frequency induction melting furnace, and satisfactory agreement ha s been reached between the calculated and the experimentally measured shapes. The model has also been used to predict the meniscus shape in a semi-levitation melting furnace. (C) 1997 by Elsevier Science Inc.