Open Access

ARTICLE

Electromagnetic Levitation Part I: Theoretical and Experimental Considerations

by Sayavur I. Bakhtiyarov¹, Dennis A. Siginer²

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801-4796 USA
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS 67230-0133, USA

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2008, 4(2), 99-112. https://doi.org/10.3970/fdmp.2008.004.099

Abstract

Levitation of liquid bodies against gravity is a contactless confinement process appropriate for manufacturing very pure materials. A variety of levitation techniques have been developed over the last few decades, such as aerodynamic, acoustic, electrostatic, microwave, and electromagnetic levitations. More recently, a new generation of novel techniques, essentially combinations of the established primary techniques, has been successfully introduced. Examples are acoustic-electric, aerodynamic-acoustic and acoustic-electromagnetic. The purpose of this series of papers in three parts, Bakhtiyarov and Siginer (2007a,b), is to review the advances in electromagnetic levitation (EML) since its introduction as a containerless melting technique, and a tool for the determination of the thermophysical properties of molten metals under both terrestrial and microgravity conditions.

---

Keywords

---