Modelling of electromagnetic glass convection with temperature-dependent properties of the melt

D. Cepite¹ - A. Jakoviċs¹ - B. Halbedel² - U. Krieger²

¹ Faculty of Physics and Mathematics University of Latvia, 8 Zellu str., LV-1002, Riga, Latvia
² Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Technical University Ilmenau, Gustav-Kirchhoff-Strasse 6, D-98693 Ilmenau, Germany

Abstract
Application of an external magnetic field to intensify the stirring process in oxide melts is a well-known industrial method. In this case the melt flow occurs not only due to thermal convection caused by the heat conduction and Joule heat production, but also due to a contribution of the Lorentz force. In our case, the character of the opaque (reduced transparency for IR as well) glass melt flow with temperature-dependent physical properties has been investigated. The main idea of the present work is to prove numerically (experimental evidence by discrete measurements of the temperature has been already given in [1] and [2]) that the application of the Lorentz force can enhance the homogeneity of the melt. The temperature homogeneity is one of the pre-requisites for the high quality of glass. Our simulations show a complete temperature distribution in 3D geometry of the melt, which is compared with the perivious experimental measurements. Tables 3, Figs 5, Refs 4.