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Mathematical Modeling of a Direct Current Electric Arc:

Part I. Analysis of the Characteristics of a Direct Current Arc
MARCO RAMÍREZ and GERARDO TRAPAGA

A mathematical model is used to describe fluid-flow, heat-transfer, and electromagnetic phenomena in

the arc region of a direct current electric arc furnace (DC EAF). Based on those model results, a detailed
physical analysis of the arc was performed, where the numerical computations help to explain the arc
structure, its behavior, and the highly coupled relationship among their main physical variables. This
analysis leads to the conclusion that the arc behaves in such a way that all the arc characteristics are
controlled by the expansion of the arc, which is the main feature used to physically describe the arc
behavior. The arc expansion is evident from the arc shape, which is defined as the region where con-
duction of electricity takes place. The arc shape is clearly seen in several contour fields presented in
this work, such as the current density, the magnetic flux density, the electric conductivity, the electric
potential, and the temperature fields. The results of this article focus on process analysis, to provide
insight into the inter-relationship among the arc variables, and to establish physical grounds to subse-
quently explore dimensionless analytical representations to describe the arc behavior.

I. INTRODUCTION
NOWADAYS the electric arc furnace (EAF) process
represents almost 40 pct of the total crude steel production
in the world.[1] From the two available technologies of this
process (alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC)
systems), the DC technology currently covers approximately
70 pct of the new EAF being commissioned around the world
due to several advantages this technology has in comparison
to the AC furnace.[2]
The main purpose of the EAF process is to produce molten
steel from scrap, direct reduced iron (DRI), pig iron, and
other raw materials, to minimize the consumption of energy
(in particular electric energy), and to increase productivity.
Also, refractory and electrode consumption are still important
issues for the steelmaking industry. All improvements asso-
ciated with the EAF process have been related to reductions
in operational costs or increases in productivity.[3] Many of
these technological improvements have been successfully
implemented, but all of them have something in common:
an apparent empiric approach. The most recent trends in the
industry show that the efficiency of the process is reaching
a plateau where no further impact in the operation is being
achieved. Therefore, it is our primary premise that a funda-
mental and rigorous understanding of the process will be the
only ways to further improve the EAF operation.
One of the most important areas of research in the EAF
regards energy consumption, in which the arc region repre-
sents an important area. Modeling of the electric arc has
been an academic challenge to many authors in the past due
to the complex phenomena occurring inside this region.
Ushio et al.[4] and Szekely et al.[5] provided the first attempts
to mathematically describe fluid flow and heat transfer in
MARCO RAMÍREZ, Professor, is with the Graduate Center in Metal-
lurgy, Instituto Technológico de Morelia, 1500 VP 58120, Morelia, Mich.,
México. GERARDO TRAPAGA, Professor, is with CINVESTAV-IPN
Unidad Querétaro, C.P. 76230, Querétaro, Qro., México. Contact e-mail:
trapaga@arcos.qro.cinvestav.mx
Manuscript submitted September 3, 2003.
the arc region solving the turbulent Navier–Stokes and energy
equations. They were the first to analyze the contributions
of the different mechanisms of heat transfer from the arc to
the bath. However, both models were highly simplified to
represent realistically the arc of an EAF, since they assumed
the electric parameters a priori. A similar work was pub-
lished by Qian et al.[6] who computed fluid flow and heat
transfer in the arc region of an EAF, but their calculations
showed that the electric current was not conserved and they
were also unable to include some important physical phenom-
ena previously neglected, such as the effect of the induced
currents.
More recently, additional modeling work on DC arc sys-
tems has been published by Hu and Lavers[7] and by Pai and
Nguyen,[8] but basically they used McKelliget’s formulation
without any apparent additional contribution. Larsen and
Bakken[9] published the only work on the AC arc system up
to the present. Their work is based on the magnetohydro-
dynamics approach in a transient form to represent the cyclic
nature of the AC currents, and they also used interesting
assumptions to impose the boundary conditions to represent
the heat input from the arc. Additionally, they employed a
different magnetic approach than the one used by McKelliget,
in which the magnetic field was solved instead of the electric
potential.
Recently, the authors of the current article also published[10]
a mathematical model of the arc region of a DC EAF. The
model involves the simultaneous solution of Maxwell’s equa-
tions for the electromagnetic field, and the turbulent fluid-flow
and heat-transfer equations. This work relaxes some critical
assumptions and provides a more realistic and comprehensive
representation of the system. Allowance was made to include
the effect of the induced currents generated due to the high
velocity motion of the electric conductor. Particularly, in this
work, a detailed physical description of the electric arc is
presented, where the arc profiles of the main parameters
produced a harmonic and coherent description due to the
highly coupled behavior of the system. The arc structure is
easily described and its behavior is fully explained based on
physical bases. Therefore, this work has the main objective

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to increase the fundamental knowledge of the physics present
in electric arcs such as those found in a DC EAF. While
this article is devoted to analyzing the behavior of the arc as
it is affected by the different process parameters, the follow-
ing article seeks to present a more general representation of
conditions, by proposing analytical dimensionless expressions
representing the behavior of the arc critical parameters.
II. MATHEMATICAL MODEL
OF THE ARC REGION
The general mathematical formulation of this model can be
found elsewhere.[10] Here, only a brief summary of the mathe-
matical formulation will be presented together with the discus-
sion of some improvements of the model from previous authors.
Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a DC electric
arc showing the complex physical phenomena included in the
problem, as well as the geometry, coordinate system, and char-
acteristic dimensions. The most important simplifying assump-
tions considered in the model are (1) the arc is considered to
be in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE),[11] (2) the current
density at the cathode is assumed to be constant and with a
value of 4.4  107 A/m2 based on experimental information,[12]
(3) the bath surface is considered to be flat, and (4) com-
pressibility effects are neglected. The governing equations
include (1) the continuity; (2) the turbulent Navier–Stokes equa-
tions; (3) the turbulent energy conservation equation, which
includes as source terms the Joule heating effect, the Thompson
effect, and the radiation losses from the hot plasma; (4) the
Maxwell’s equations; (5) Ohm’s law (including a convective
term); (6) the charge conservation equation, and (7) the transport
equations of the turbulent kinetic energy and energy dissipa-
tion rate, i.e., the standard k- turbulence model. Regarding
boundary conditions, the complete list required for all variables
can also be found in References 10 and 14. An important part
Fig. 1—Schematic representation of the arc region in a DC EAF. The main
phenomena are depicted in the figure. The boundaries are symmetry axis
(AF); cathode surface (AC), which contains the cathode spot (AB); bath
surface boundary (EF); and the entrainment (fixed pressure) boundaries
(CD) and (DE).
364—VOLUME 35B, APRIL 2004
of the mathematical model is the representation of the regions
close to the electrodes (cathode and bath surfaces). In those
positions, departure from LTE is established and special care
is needed to represent the system. To represent the cathode
region, it is assumed that the voltage drop in that area can be
related to a heat flux term denominated as the “cathode fall.”
At the anode, close to the bath region, the arc interacts with
the bath. Three arc bath interactions are considered: heat flux
from the arc to the bath, current density flux entering the bath,
and a shear stress due to the jet impinging on the bath. Actu-
ally, the pressure due to this impingement of the arc jet (causing
a bath depression) is neglected in this study. The heat flux from
the arc has four different contributions: a heat flux due to a
voltage drop close to the anode named “anode fall,” conden-
sation of electrons, radiation, and convection. The model was
validated using experimental information reported in the liter-
ature,[13] as was presented in Reference 14. All governing equa-
tions subjected to their corresponding boundary conditions were
cast and solved simultaneously using the commercial compu-
tational fluid dynamics (CFD) code PHOENICS 3.2. (CHAM
Ltd., Wimbledon, U.K.) Computational domains of 60  60
nonuniform grids were selected (after an exhaustive grid sen-
sitivity analysis) and the calculations took about 3000 iterations
to converge the set of equations into a solution, which was con-
sidered when all imbalances of the transport equations were
lower than 1 pct.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Arc results are presented in this section based on the math-
ematical representation of the arc region described in Sec-
tion II. The analysis of the main arc characteristics and an
extensive discussion on the physics of the arc region are pre-
sented for a standard case of an electric arc with 40 KA of
current and 25-cm arc length. This arc represents an inter-
mediate condition between low and high values of current
and arc lengths considered in the study. The complete set of
results are included in the analysis presented in Part II of
this series of articles.
A. Physics Involved in the Arc Process Based
on the Standard Case (40-KA Arc Current
and 0.25-m Arc Length)
A detailed description of an electric arc will be presented in
this section based on results from the model. The physics of
the arc can be fully described by analyzing each variable field
individually, and connecting them through their coupling in the
governing equations that describe the entire system. In this way,
the field for a single variable is a consequence of the rest of
the variables due to the high coupling among them. Then, all
fields are necessary for a coherent description of the arc.
Figure 2 shows computed (a) velocity and (b) pressure
fields for the conditions of the standard case showing a
two-dimensional domain where the left boundary represents the
symmetry axis, the bottom is the flat bath surface, part of
the top boundary contains the cathode surface, and the remain-
der of the top and the left border are entrainment boundaries.
The jet formed in the cathode region and directed toward the
bath can be explained by observing the pressure field shown
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(a)
(c)
Fig. 2—Computed results for the standard electric arc (40-KA arc current and 0.25-m arc length): (a) arc velocity field; (b) arc pressure field; (c) axial
velocity along the symmetry axis; and (d) pressure distribution along the symmetry axis.
in the figure. Close to the cathode region, a high-pressure
zone is developed to counterbalance high electromagnetic
body forces acting in that region, and, as a consequence, a
high velocity jet is developed and directed toward the bath.
The jet expands due to turbulent mixing with entrained fluid
along the edge of the jet. The jet travels from a high-pressure
zone at the cathode to a low-pressure zone in the arc column,
but when it reaches the bath, a second high-pressure zone is
generated as the jet impinges onto the bath surface. The
impingement zone effect forces gas to flow in the radial direc-
tion, parallel to the bath surface. Figure 2(c) shows the vel-
ocity profile along the symmetry axis. The velocities rapidly
rise from zero at the cathode to a maximum value of approxi-
mately 8000 m/s, at about 10 cm from the cathode. Then,
the velocity decreases due to the jet expansion until it reaches
a zero value at the bath surface. The pressure profile along
the symmetry axis is shown in Figure 2(d), where the two
high-pressure zones developed at the cathode and anode
regions are clearly seen. A pressure value at the cathode is
of the order of 2.0  105 Pa (2 atmospheres) and at the bath
is about 1.2  105 Pa (1 atmosphere).
Figure 3 shows the (a) potential and (b) current density fields
for the same standard case. The electric potential is derived
from the charge conservation requirement, i.e., directly from
the current density components. The potential depends on the
electric conductivity of the gas, which in turn is affected by
the temperature, velocity, and magnetic flux density fields.
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B
(b)
(d)
Furthermore, the current density depends on the applied poten-
tial and also on the induced currents generated as the gas flows:
J  s 1 § f  V  B 2
app
applied induced [1]
In our calculations, one of the two components of current comes
from the total gradient and was obtained as
J  s 1 § f 2
app
[2]
This contribution to the current can be expressed physically
as vectors always pointing normal to the potential lines illus-
trated by the vector field presented in Figure 3(c). In contrast,
the current density term due to the cross product V  B can
be observed in Figure 3(d). It can be appreciated that, close
to the bath and cathode surfaces, induced currents are pre-
dominant in the axial direction, while in the arc column and
close to the symmetry line, these induced currents are pre-
dominantly aligned in the radial direction. The reason for
the form of this induced current field can be explained by
analyzing each component of the induced currents:
Jr  svz B [3a]
Jz  svr B [3b]
As indicated by Eq. [3b], the axial component of induced cur-
rent is proportional to the radial velocity vr, and then, close to
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(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e)
Fig. 3—Computed results for the standard electric arc (40-KA arc current and 0.25-m arc length): (a) potential field; (b) total current density field; (c) potential
derived current density field; (d) induced current density field; and (e) axial current density profiles along the radius at 5, 12.5, 20, and 22 cm from cathode.

the bath and cathode surface, the velocity is preferentially directed
in the radial direction. However, close to the cathode, the radial
velocity is negative (Figure 2(a)) and hence induced currents
point toward the bath. In contrast, in the vicinity of the bath, the
radial velocity is positive (Figure 2(a)), which explains the axial-
induced current densities pointing toward the cathode, as shown
in Figure 3(d). Employing the same reasoning, the radial vectors
of the induced currents found in the arc column are a conse-
quence of the high axial velocities found close to the symmetry
axis. The radial-induced current densities are proportional to the
axial velocity, vz, as indicated by Eq. [3a].
The sum of the two components of current density shown
in Figures 3(c) and (d), respectively, results in the total
current density field shown in Figure 3(b).
Another important characteristic of the potential field is
that it can be used to define the arc shape. The arc can be
defined as the spatial region where conduction of current
takes place. As seen in Figure 3(a), the shape of the electric
potential field shows a region of nearly horizontal iso-potential
lines close to the symmetry axis, which change slope and
become nearly vertical lines. The extension of the horizontal
lines increases as the distance from the cathode increases due

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to expansion of the arc. Since the current density vectors
are normal to the potential lines, the axial components of
current are located along these horizontal lines. By inspec-
tion of the potential values, it is clear that potential gradients
decrease with distance from the cathode (leading also to an
axial current density decrease). Vertical iso-potential lines
indicate that no axial components are present. Moreover, due
to lower temperature values in those regions (as will be shown
in Figure 5(a)) and consequently low electric conductivities,
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig. 4—Computed results for the standard electric arc (40-KA arc current
and 0.25-m arc length): (a) magnetic flux density field, B; (b) electro-
magnetic body force vector field; and (c) B radial profiles at 5, 12.5, and
20 cm from cathode and at the bath surface.
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B
radial components of current density are also expected to be
small. Vertical iso-potential lines are more evident close to
the cathode, where the arc region is better defined. As the
distance from the cathode increases, the verticality of the
potential lines changes due to arc expansion. Close to the
anode, however, the lines become almost horizontal. The
region with horizontal lines can be considered as the con-
ductive region of the arc. Therefore, if the ends of the hori-
zontal iso-potential lines in Figure 3(a) are connected, the
shape of the arc can be defined, which is the same as shown
in Figure 3(b) for the arc current density field. Figure 3(e)
shows radial profiles of axial current density at four differ-
ent axial positions (5, 12.5, and 20 cm from the cathode and
at the bath surface). The arc expansion is evident from this
figure, where a narrow distribution of axial current density
is defined close to the cathode, and wider distributions are
observed as the distance from the cathode increases. Conse-
quently, arc current densities are higher close to the cathode
and decrease as the distance from the cathode increases.
Figure 4 shows predictions of the (a) magnetic flux density
and (b) electromagnetic body force fields. The magnetic flux
density is an important electric quantity because it is required to
compute the body force field (by the cross-product J  B ),
(a)
(b)
Fig. 5—Computed results for the standard electric arc (40-KA arc current
and 0.25-m arc length): (a) temperature field and (b) temperature distri-
bution along the symmetry axis.
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which drives the jet flow. The magnetic flux density field is
derived from integration of Ampere’s law (Eq. 4), assuming
that the current density is predominantly directed in the axial
direction, and is given by
r

mo
B  Jz rdr [4]
r standard case. Close to the cathode, maximum temperatures
0
Examining Ampere’s law (Eq. [4]), two factors can be
recognized in this equation: (1) the integral, which is propor-
tional to the total arc current; and (2) the factor l/r outside the
integral. Maximum values of the magnetic flux density are
calculated close to the cathode (0.53 tesla), and they decrease
as the distance from the cathode increases. The reason for the
decrease in these values is due to the expansion of the arc
radius. Although the total current is conserved and therefore
the integral has the same value, the factor l/r in Ampere’s law
gives a smaller magnetic flux density value as the arc radius
increases with increasing distances from the cathode. The
magnetic flux density field also gives an indication of the
arc shape. Figure 4(c) shows radial magnetic flux density pro-
files at 5, 12.5, and 20 cm from the cathode and at the bath
surface. The magnetic flux density values start from zero at
the symmetry axis, reach a maximum, and then decrease
rapidly with increasing radial distances. The maximum is
located at the edge of the conduction region (i.e., the arc radius
position). Farther from the maximum, the radial profiles
decrease because the integral has reached the same maximum
value (total arc current value), but the factor l/r decreases with
radial distance. Therefore, the rate of decrease for the magnetic
flux density field in such region is proportional to l/r. Since
the location of the maximum magnetic flux density defines
the arc radius, a line can be drawn connecting the maximum
points in the B field (Figure 4(a)) to determine the shape of
the arc. In this way, the magnetic flux density field also gives
a physical representation of the arc shape, similar to the poten-
tial and current density fields, based on the electric conduc-
tion zone.
As seen in Figure 4(b), the body forces are predominantly
aligned in the radial direction due to a predominantly axial
current density flow (radial component of Lorentz’s forces
comes from the cross-product J  B, which is Jz # B).
Values of electromagnetic body forces are maximum close
to the cathode due to maximum current and magnetic flux
density values (Figures 4(a) and 3(b)). As the distance from
the cathode increases, the current density vectors and the
magnetic flux density values decrease and therefore electro-
magnetic body forces also decrease. However, despite the
fact that the maximum current densities are at the symme-
try axis, the maximum forces are not, since the magnetic flux
density is zero at the symmetry axis. Thus, maximum forces
are located between the symmetry axis and the arc radius.
The large electromagnetic force vectors found close to the
cathode are responsible for the high-pressure zone developed
there, as shown in Figure 2(b). However, the expansion of
the electric arc is important in developing the jet flow. If the
arc would not expand, no radial currents would appear, and
iso-cylindrical magnetic flux density and current density fields
would be obtained. Consequently, the pressure field would
also be composed by iso-pressure cylinders that would not
be able to drive the jet. In other words, the jet forms due to
368—VOLUME 35B, APRIL 2004
the arc expansion. This arc expansion decreases axial current
densities, magnetic flux densities, and, even more important,
the body forces. Then, pressure decreases as the distance
from the cathode increases, so the jet flow is possible since
a low-pressure zone is formed just below the cathode genera-
ting the pressure gradients to drive the flow.
Figure 5(a) shows the predicted temperature field for the
of around 27,000 K are present, but as the distance from the
cathode increases, temperatures decrease along the axial axis,
as shown in Figure 5(b). Therefore, Joule heating effects asso-
ciated with the large current densities close to the cathode are
responsible for these high temperatures. The shape of the tem-
perature contours shows that convection plays a key role as a
heat-transfer mechanism. Close to the symmetry axis and also
close to the bath surface, the isotherms follow the fluid flow
patterns of the gas. However, convection is not strong enough
to dissipate the large amount of Joule heat generated in the
arc column, and radiation has to be taken into account as a
heat releasing mechanism. In terms of an overall energy bal-
ance, the arc power (considered to be equal to the product
between current and voltage) is balanced by all mechanisms
of heat dissipation described in the model formulation.[10]
Figure 6 shows predicted fields of various physical prop-
erties of the arc, such as (a) kinematic viscosity, (b) density,
and (c) electric conductivity for air gas. These properties are
exclusively a function of temperature. Examining Figures 5
(temperature field) and 6, the similarity between the contours
of the properties and the temperature contours is evident. The
contours of physical properties follow the temperature distri-
butions and their specific relation with temperature is indi-
cated by the temperature dependence reported in Reference 16.
The kinematic viscosity is defined as the ratio of laminar
viscosity over density. Viscosities are low at low tempera-
tures and increase until reaching a maximum at 10,000 K and
then decrease with increasing temperature. The maximum
kinematic viscosities are found along the 10,000 K isotherm,
which is also considered as the limit to the visible arc radius.
Then, inside and outside the arc region, smaller viscosities
are found. Densities are extremely low inside the arc (regions
where temperatures are above 10,000 K), but, outside the arc,
the density can be at least two orders of magnitude higher
than in the arc column. The electric conductivity is an impor-
tant physical property since its values define the conduction
zone. At approximately 8000 K, the electric conductivity has
values close to zero and increases rapidly with temperature;
however, at about 10,000 K, the conductivity is high enough
to allow conduction of electric current. The electric conduc-
tivity increases with temperature until it reaches a plateau
at 25,000 K where it remains constant at approximately
12,500 1 m1. Close to the cathode, the highest electrical
conductivities are found due to the region of maximum tem-
peratures in the arc. As the temperature of the gas decreases
toward the bath, the electric conductivity decreases. This effect
of having a worst conductor as the distance from the cathode
increases is a further indication of the arc expansion leading
to smaller current density vectors.
Finally, Figure 7 shows contour fields of turbulent param-
eters predicted for the standard conditions. The turbulent
kinetic energy, k, the energy dissipation rate, , and the tur-
bulent kinematic viscosity, vt, are shown in Figures 7(a)
through (c), respectively. The turbulent kinetic energy and the
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(a)
(a)

(b)
(b)

(c)
Fig. 6—Computed results for the standard electric arc (40-KA arc cur-
rent and 0.25-m arc length): (a) kinematic viscosity, (b) density, and (c)
electric conductivity.
energy dissipation rate show two regions of interest regard-
ing turbulence characteristics. The first region is in the well-
developed arc jet far from the cathode, while the second region
(c)
Fig. 7—Computed results for the standard conditions (40-KA arc current
and 0.25-m arc length): (a) turbulent kinetic energy, (b) turbulent energy
dissipation rate, and (c) turbulent kinematic viscosity.
is along the bath surface associated with the jet impingement.
The shape of the contours for these two turbulent parameters
also reflects the arc expansion. In fact, turbulence promotes
mixing between cold gas outside the arc and hot gases inside
the arc resulting in gas entrainment that expands the jet. The
turbulent kinematic viscosity, being a function of k and ,

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shows similar trends as these two variables. It is noted that
viscosity values in some zones in the arc are about three orders
of magnitude greater than laminar viscosities. Thus, mixing
promoted by turbulence is significantly enhanced inside the
arc and close to the impingement zone.
B. Arc-Bath Interactions Based on the Standard Case
(40-KA Arc Current and 0.25-m Arc Length)
The main objective in representing the arc characteristics
is to be able to estimate arc-bath interactions, which allow the
bath region to be represented under the influence of the arc.
Arc-bath interactions represent the arc influence on the bath
region at the arc-bath interface. Computed arc-bath interac-
tions for the bath representations are shown in Figure 8, where
(a) current density, (b) heat fluxes, (c) cumulative heat flow,
(d) shear stress, (e) arc pressure, and (f) arc temperature at
the bath surface are presented.
The current density at the bath shows a Gaussian-like
distribution with a maximum value of 8.0  106 A/m2 for
the standard case. The current distribution extends up to
8 cm in the radial direction. It is noted that at the cathode,

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

(e) (f)
Fig. 8—Arc-bath interactions at the bath surface: (a) current density and (b) heat flux distribution; (c) cumulative heat flux; (d) shear stress; (e) arc pres-
sure; and (f) arc temperature.

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the spot radius (with a Jc of 4.4  107 A/m2 and arc current
of 40 KA) is around 1.7 cm. This means that the arc expands
almost 5 times from the cathode. Heat flux from the arc to
the bath (Figure 8(b)) is composed of different contributing
mechanisms, as was explained in previous publications.[4,5]
These mechanisms are convection, anode fall, and conden-
sation of electrons; Thompson effect; and radiation. From
the figure, it is seen that electronic mechanisms have a sig-
nificant contribution to the heat transfer to the bath close to
the symmetry axis, but they are unimportant beyond 10 cm
from the center. In contrast, convection and radiation are
the most widely distributed mechanisms for the entire radial
distance, but convection is always higher than radiation along
the entire radius of the bath, at least for the case being con-
sidered here. The total heat flux at the anode, resulting from
the additive effects of all mechanisms considered, has also
a Gaussian-like shape (as in the current distribution) pre-
senting maximum values at the axis. Heat transfer from the
arc can be better understood by integrating the heat flux over
the entire bath area. This integration constitutes the cumula-
tive heat flow representation presented in Figure 8(c) along
the radius. In this plot, convection, electronic (anode fall,
condensation of electrons, and Thompson effect), and radi-
ation contributions, as well as the total heat flow, are shown
in cumulative form. From this plot, convection is the major
heat-transfer mechanism (under the condition examined), fol-
lowed by radiation and then the electronic term with the
smallest heat contribution. As mentioned previously, the elec-
tronic term is the largest contribution near the center, but,
since the current is concentrated in a small circle, the other
two mechanisms, radiation and convection, result as major
contributors to heat flow. In a circle bath area with 0.3 m in
diameter, almost 3 MW are transferred from the arc to the
bath for heating purposes.
The shear stress at the anode presented in Figure 8(d) has
a zero value at the center but increases rapidly until it reaches
a maximum value of 450 N/m2 at 7 cm from the center.
Following the maximum, a continuous decrease in the shear
stress is observed. The shape of the shear stress curve is
related to the radial gas velocity, which is zero at the center
and increases as the jet is deflected at the impingement point
(Figure 2(a)).
The pressure profile at the anode also shows a Gaussian
distribution along the radius, as seen in Figure 8(e). More
than 1 atmosphere is predicted at the center. This value is
extremely high and would create some surface depression
on the steel bath, which is not considered in the model. It
has been documented that arc instabilities are present in
the actual process that have the effect of dispersing the arc
thrust, and this high pressure should actually be much lower
o magnetic permeability (henry/m)
because of the dispersion.[16]
Finally, the arc temperature profile at the bath is presented
in Figure 8(f). As seen in the figure, the temperature
decreases from its maximum value in the center (15,000 K)
to the outer radial position where a minimum temperature
of 5000 K is observed.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
A mathematical model has been developed to represent
the arc region of a DC EAF system. The model involves
METALLURGICAL AND MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS B
the simultaneous solution of Maxwell’s equations for the
electromagnetic field, and the turbulent fluid flow and heat-
transfer equations. In contrast to previous modeling inves-
tigations by other authors, this work relaxes some of the
critical assumptions and provides a more realistic and
comprehensive representation of the system. Additionally,
this model addresses the role of the induced currents in rep-
resenting the arc.
The “anatomy” of the arc region was fully described
using the model. The results in the arc region show that all
arc characteristics are strongly coupled. It was found that
the boundary of the arc region could be unambiguously
defined as the location of the 10,000 K isotherm, by the
inflection points of the iso-potential lines or by the inflection
of the iso-magnetic flux density lines, by the shape of the
current density vector field, and by the electric conductivity
field.
The shape of the arc is the common feature for all arc char-
acteristics described in this work. Actually, the expansion of
the arc is the phenomenon that helps to fully explain and
understand the arc physics. Arc expansion is promoted by the
divergence of the current leaving the cathode spot region,
which in turn creates potential, pressure, and temperature gra-
dients close to that region that promote the high velocity jet
directed toward the bath surface. All variables are strongly
coupled, and even the turbulence and the induced currents
promote the expansion of the arc.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank CONACYT and COSNET (Mexican
government) for their financial support for this work.
LIST OF SYMBOLS
J current density vector (A/m2)
B magnetic flux density vector (Tesla)
V velocity vector (m/s)
B azimutal magnetic flux density (Tesla)
Jr radial current density (A/m2)
Jz axial current density (A/m2)
vz axial velocity (m/s)
vr radial velocity (m/s)
r radial position (m)
Jc current density at the cathode spot (A/m2)
L arc length (m)
 electric conductivity (1 m1)
electric potential (V)
vt kinematic viscosity (m2/s)
k turbulent kinetic energy (J/Kg)
 energy dissipation rate (W/Kg)
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