Magnetohydrodynamic calculation for free surfaces

Abstract

A magnetohydrodynamic calculation for free surface is used in the design and evaluation of a cold-crucible or initial solidification such as stirring phenomena commonly found in the metal processing industry. A direct calculation of both the electromagnetic field and the fluid dynamics field for the surface of a molten metal that changes with time requires significant computing times, especially for three-dimensional models. An approximate calculation method, the shadow method, is one which uses a fixed mesh. Results obtained by the shadow method show that the shape of molten metal does not collapse under gravity as observed experimentally.