Liquid metal flow behavior during vacuum consumable arc remelting process for titanium

125301-7474 IJET-IJENS @ February 2012 IJENS I J E N S Abstract—To better understand the vacuum arc remelting (VAR) process, a 3D finite element model is established to analyzing the electromagnetic, temperature and flow fields of titanium alloy ingot during steady state melting process using ANSYS software. The research results show that the current flows from the crucible to consumable electrode. The magnetic field induced by current is rotary on axial line, which increases firstly and then decreases from the center to edge of crucible. The buoyancy, self-induced and stirring Lorentz forces are three main motion forces in molten pool. The molten pool is strongly influenced by fluid flows which in turn are driven by buoyancy and Lorentz force created by the melting current without stirring magnetic field. The flow velocity vectors resulted from buoyancy and self-induced Lorentz forces are opposite. The buoyancy dominates the liquid metal flow at lower current, but the self-induced Lorentz force becomes dominant with the increasing current. A transition from the buoyancy to self-induced Lorentz force dominant fluid flow occurs in the molten pool atop the ingot between 1.6 and 2.6 kA for size ingots. The stirring Lorentz force leads to a rotary flow of the molten pool in horizontal direction with stirring magnetic field.