Combined electromagnetic and magnetic levitation

M. Bonvalot¹ - E. Beaugnon¹ - P. Courtois¹ - P. Gillon²

¹ MATFORMAG, CNRS, BP 166 38042 Grenoble Cedex 09, France
² MADYLAM, BP 95, 38402 St. Martin d Heres Cedex, France

Abstract
We investigate the coupling of electromagnetic and magnetic forces to produce levitation. Combined levitation melting is obtained by inserting a conventional levitation induction furnace inside the bore of a superconducting coil delivering a continuous magnetic field up to 8 T. Experiments performed on different samples of copper, iron, nickel and titanium are presented. When both forces act, contactless melting and solidification may be achieved. In addition, the static magnetic field shows a strong stabilization effect, fixing the shape and the position of the sample. Tabl. 2, figs 2, refs 5.