Effect of vibrating electrode on temperature profiles, fluid flow, and pool shape in ESR system based on a comprehensive coupled model

The vibrating electrode method was proposed in the electro-slag remelting (ESR) process in this paper, and the effect of vibrating electrode on the solidification structure of ingot was studied. A transient threedimensional (3D) coupled mathematical model was established to simulate the electromagnetic phenomenon, fluid flow as well as pool shape in the ESR process with the vibrating electrode. The finite element volume method is developed to solve the electromagnetic field using ANSYS mechanical APDL software. Moreover, the electromagnetic force and Joule heating are interpolated as the source term of the momentum and energy equations. The multi-physical fields have been investigated and compared between the traditional electrode and the vibrating electrode in the ESR process. The results show that the drop process of metal droplets with the traditional electrode is scattered randomly. However, the drop process of metal droplets with the vibrating electrode is periodic. The highest temperature of slag layer with the vibrating electrode is higher than that with the traditional electrode, which can increase the melting rate due to the enhanced heat transfer in the vicinity of the electrode tip. The results also show that when the amplitude and frequency of the vibrating electrode increase, the cycle of drop process of metal droplets decreases significantly.