Metal Flow in a Packed Bed under Magnetic Field Imposition

Abstract

A liquid metal flow suppression function of a static magnetic field has been theoretically and experimentally investigated, and this function has been utilized as an electromagnetic brake in a continuous casting process of steel. Because macro segregation is induced by macro scale flow, this function must be a powerful tool for the suppression of the macro segregation. However, effect of the static magnetic field on the flow in a liquid-solid coexisting region has not been clarified until now. In this study, for clarification of the magnetic field effect on the suppression of the liquid metal flow in the liquid-solid coexisting region, a model experiment using a packed bed composed of a liquid tin and solid particles made of copper or alumina has been done. The Reynolds number decreased and the friction factor increased by imposing the static magnetic field in the experiment. This was remarkable when the solid particles in the packed bed were the copper rather than the alumina. Furthermore, an equation which can predict the relation between the friction factor and the Reynolds number in the liquid-solid coexisting region under the static magnetic field imposition has been derived based on the Ergun equation and the Hartmann flow analysis under the condition that the solid particles were perfectly conducting material or insulating material.