Investigation of the cold crucible melting process: experimental and numerical study

V. Bojarevics¹ - G. Djambazov¹ - R. A. Harding² - K. Pericleous¹ - M. Wickins²

¹ University of Greenwich, School of Computing and Mathematics, London, SE10 9LS, UK
² University of Birmingham, IRC in Materials Processing, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK }

Abstract
The dynamic process of melting different materials in a cold crucible is being studied experimentally with parallel numerical modelling work. The numerical simulation uses a variety of complementing models: finite volume, integral equation and pseudo-spectral methods combined to achieve the accurate description of the dynamic melting process. Results show a gradual development and change of the melting front, fluid velocities, magnetically confined liquid metal free surface, and the tempera-ture history during the whole melting process. The computed results are compared to the experimental temperature measurements and the heat losses in the various parts of the equipment. The free surface visual observations are compared to the numerically predicted surface shapes. Tables 2, Figs 5, Refs 8.