Numerical simulation of turbulent flows, heat and mass transfer in metallurgical induction processes

Comprehensive knowledge of the turbulent flows, heat and mass transfer processes in the melt of induction applications is required to realize efficient metallurgical processes. Experimental and numerical studies of the melt flow in induction furnaces show that the flow pattern, which comprises several vortices of the mean flow, and the temperature distribution in the melt are significantly influenced by low-frequency large-scale flow oscillations. Two- and three-dimensional hydrodynamic calculations of the melt flow, using two-equation turbulence models based on Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes approach, do not predict the large-scale periodic flow instabilities obtained from the experimental data. That is why the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) numerical technique was approved to be an alternative for the various k-epsilon model modifications. The results of the transient 3D LES simulation of the turbulent melt flow revealed the large-scale periodic flow instabilities and the temperature distribution in the melt, which both are in good agreement with the expectations based on the data from the experiments. The studies, presented in this paper, demonstrate the possibility of using the three-dimensional transient LES approach for successful simulation of heat and mass transfer processes in metallurgical applications.