Induction melting in a cold crucible furnace applied to innovative high-melting temperature metals

Abstract

The necessity to process chemically reactive metals makes the cold wall crucible an attractive alternative to conventional furnaces, even for materials with a melting point of 2500oC and higher. A significant research work in this field is though missing. In this paper, steps conducing to melting high-melting temperature metals (niobium, in this case) by electromagnetic induction are described. Multiphysical numerical simulations were successfully validated for aluminium and titanium-aluminium alloy. In the case of niobium, authors evidence some differences between numerical and experimental results, and limits of the induction melting setup are examined for future improvements. Tables 1, Figs 7, Refs 11.