FINITE-ELEMENT SIMULATION OF VACUUM-ARC REMELTING

Vacuum are remelting is a process for producing homogeneous ingots of reactive and macrosegregation-sensitive alloys. A mathematical model o f the transport phenomena in the ingot melt is presented together with a discussion of the various simplifying assumptions and approximation s that make the problem tractable, with particular attention on transp ort in the interdendritic mushy zone and on the magnetohydrodynamics. The finite element method is used to discretize the equations for the non-isothermal how problem and the quasi-static electromagnetic proble m. Coupling of the finite element solutions for the two field problems is accomplished using the Parallel Virtual Machine software. An analy sis of the fluid flow and heat transport in the melt pool of the solid ifying ingot shows some of the factors that influence ingot quality du ring quasi-steady growth conditions. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Lt d.