Measurement of magnitude and direction of velocity in high-temperature liquid metals. Part II: Experimental measurements

Abstract

Experimental research work on the application of the sphere melting technique to measure magnitude as well as direction of velocity in liquid metals is the focus of Part II of this series of articles. The sphere melting time is detected by means of a sensing wire, which is connected to a specially designed electrical circuit. A novel apparatus is used whereby liquid metal is rotated with a specified tangential velocity. To measure the magnitude of velocity, the sensing wire of the sphere melting is located at the center of the sphere. To detect the direction of flow, three sensing wires are employed. These wires are placed at strategic locations inside the sphere and detect the melting times at three different locations. The ratio of the melting times of these locations identifies the direction of the flow. The experimental results are compared against model predictions. In addition, an error analysis is carried out to discover the possible sources of error in the detection of metal velocity. The liquid metals used in this research work are commercial purity aluminum and AZ91 magnesium alloy.