Electromagnetic Shaping and Containment of Liquid Metals

这项研究的目的是通过使用电磁力来改进处理液态金属的方法。研究的具体重点领域包括：源线圈设计，包括开发三维边界元反问题和正问题解算器，以及为选择特定源配置制定优化方法；三维悬浮、限制和成形，包括通过数字图像分析的液态金属界面位置和形状的实验文件；电磁铸造金属的整体、表面和体耦合失稳机制的研究，以及凝固组织的研究，并与传统铸造组织进行比较。建模工作的中心是开发用于设计源线圈配置和激励的自洽数值工具，该工具基于所需的悬浮液态金属的几何形状和区分替代源选项的标准。实验工作的目的是验证建模概念和结果，以及研究用于流动控制和整形的实际电磁配置。如果能够开发出有效的非物理接触处理液态金属的技术，将极大地提高传统铸造工业的效率。

The purpose of the research is to develop improved methods for handling liquid metals through the use of electromagnetic forces. Specific thrust areas of the research include: source coil design, including development of the three-dimensional boundary element inverse problem and forward problem solvers and development of an optimization methodology for choice of specific source configuration; three-dimensional levitation, confinement and shaping, including experimental documentation, through digital image analysis, of position and shape of liquid metal interfaces; studies of whole-body, surface-coupled and bulk- coupled instability mechanisms, and studies of solidification structures of electromagnetically cast metals, with comparisons to conventionally cast structures. The modeling work centers upon development of self- consistent numerical tools for the design of source coil configurations and excitations, based upon desired geometries of levitated liquid metals and criteria which discriminate among alternative source options. The experimental work is aimed toward validation of modeling concepts and results, as well as investigation of practical electromagnetic configurations for flow control and shaping. If effective techniques for handling liquid metals without physical contact can be developed, it could greatly increase the efficiency of the conventional casting industry.