Numerical Modeling and Optimization of Large-Scale Molten Titanium Levitation

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Metallurgy
• Electromagnetism

Background:

• Melting reactive metals like titanium presents challenges including crucible damage and contamination.
• Current levitation melting techniques are typically limited to small laboratory-scale samples.
• A need exists for scalable solutions for levitation melting of reactive metals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a methodology for modeling and optimizing a large-scale electromagnetic levitation melting system.
• To demonstrate the application of this system for melting pure titanium.
• To confirm the stable levitation of a substantial mass using a novel system design.

Main Methods:

• Modeling the levitation system in a 2D axisymmetric domain.
• Optimizing a large-scale levitation melting system with a torus-shaped load and gutter-shaped coil.
• Conducting numerical experiments to validate the system's performance.

Main Results:

• The developed methodology enables the modeling and optimization of large-scale levitation melting systems.
• Stable levitation of a 2.6 kg pure titanium mass was achieved.
• The newly designed electromagnetic levitation system proved effective for substantial masses.

Conclusions:

• The proposed modeling and optimization methodology is effective for designing large-scale levitation melting systems.
• The novel system design facilitates stable levitation of significant quantities of reactive metals.
• This work paves the way for industrial applications of levitation melting for titanium and similar metals.