Effect of travelling magnetic field inductor characteristics on the liquid metal flow in a rectangular cell

Abstract

Contactless liquid metal stirring by traveling magnetic field (TMF) inductor is widely applied in modern metallurgy. The quality of stirring is an actual challenge. One solution to this problem is to complicate the TMF inductor supplying current form. In present work we study the influence of the current on the hydrodynamic characteristics of the flow. The spatial distribution of the velocity field is investigated. The goal is to reduce stagnation zones in the flow and to achieve uniform stirring. Local turbulence characteristics, which has a significant effect on the stirring process, are also investigated. In this case, the purpose is to generate the flow with a sufficient intensity of the turbulence. The research is carried out by mathematical simulation and experiments. Three-dimensional calculations are performed in the Comsol Multyphysics software. The experiment is carried out on gallium eutectic. The total electromagnetic force dependencies on the supplying current characteristics are obtained taking into account the magnetic saturation. Three-dimensional flow calculations are verified on the experimental data. The flow characteristics on the TMF inductor supplying current value are determined. © 2018 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.