Experiments on the magnetic damping of an inductively stirred liquid metal flow

This work is concerned with the stabilisation of both bulk liquid metal flow and free surface shape in inductively heated melts. Static magnetic fields in different orientation were used to damp the fluctuations generated by the alternating magnetic field of an induction heater. This superposition of a driving alternating with a braking static magnetic field was investigated experimentally in a low temperature isothermal model utilising a rectangular fluid volume in an induction-furnace-like setup fed by a current of intermediate frequency. Local velocity measurements in the liquid metal showed different damping characteristics for static fields aligned either normal or parallel to the melt surface.