Hybrid numerical 3D model of electromagnetic levitation of molten metal

This paper introduces a new and efficient methodology for the numerical modeling of electromagnetic levitation. The model requires transferring the time-varying geometry of the molten metal from the hydrodynamic submodel to the electromagnetic submodel. The developed methodology combines a geometry transfer of the conductivity distribution of the metal/air system, and the accompanying conditional reconstruction of the electromagnetic submodel. The proposed solution strategy enables a computationally efficient simulation of the coupled process accounting for any evolution of the molten metal geometry. The developed methodology can be generalized to any magnetohydrodynamic process with the presence of a free surface of liquid metal. The method was applied to the 3D modeling of a classic example of low-scale levitation melting of aluminum.