Practical Application of the Concept of Separating the Zone of Overheating and Reducing the Stress Level in Cathode Block of an Aluminium Electrolytic Cell During Formation of Connection with the Steel Pin by Cast Iron Pouring

Abstract

The article presents the concept of division of a carbon block into single cathode sections to reduce stresses that occur during thermal shock accompanying the operation of pouring cast iron into a shaped groove in which the current-carrying steel pin is mounted. The temperature field and the state of stress were determined by FEM. Experimental measurements were used to determine the core displacement during pouring operation. The calculations were verified by thermovision and photoelastic method. Based on the temperature field and stress field analysis, a method for the block division into sections has been proposed, resulting in a significant reduction of the stress level.

Keywords

• aluminium electrolytic cell
• cathode section
• cast iron
• FEM calculations