Pulse External Fields Processing of Metal Alloys

Abstract

Research and applications of electromagnetic processing of materials began in the 1930s. In those early days, electromagnetic induction was the main technique and it was used for heating or melting metal alloys, stirring melt or controlling melt flow against gravity. In the 1970s, researchers and engineers in materials and metallurgical sector started to adopt the established theories and knowledge in the field of magnetohydrodynamics to interpret the similar phenomena and solve the problems found in the metallurgical processes where electromagnetic fields are present. This marked the birth of “Electromagnetic Metallurgy” and later named as “Electromagnetic Processing of Materials” by Shigeo Asai in 1989. Since then, eight series of international Symposiums have been dedicated to the developments in this field, and the ninth Symposium (EPM 2018) will be held in Awaji Island, Hyogo, Japan on 14–18 Oct 2018 [http://www.epm2018.org/]. This Chapter primarily describes the historical and recent research and technological developments on pulse external fields with a focus on their applications to the solidification processes. Pulse field methods are relatively new compared to other types of electromagnetic processing methods. Two major types of pulse fields, i.e. pulse electric currents and pulse electromagnetic fields, are described with a critical review on the most recent developments and future directions.