Electromagnetic Levitation Melting of Large Conduction Loads

A new kind of levitator has been developed that allows the levitation melting of large metallic loads. The new technique has been successfully applied to achieve the levitation melting of 1-kg aluminum spheres. The technique and design procedures described here are also applicable to loads of other metals and of different shape or size. Unlike the models previously available, the new levitators do not rely on the effect of surface tension. Instead, several magnetic fields of different frequencies are properly shaped and oriented to produce adequate pressure distributions as well as to ensure the necessary surface and bulk stability.