Effect of remelting current on molten pool profile of titanium alloy ingot during vacuum arc remelting process

The performance of vacuum arc remelting (VAR) ingot depends largely on ingot structure and chemical uniformity, which are strongly influenced by molten pool profile that is influenced by VAR process. To better understand the effect of remelting current on molten pool profile of titanium alloy ingot during VAR process, a 3D finite element model is developed by the ANSYS software. The results show that there are three remelting stages during VAR process when the remelting current is 2.0 kA. The molten pool depth increases gradually from 30 to 320 s, then the change of molten pool depth is very small during the steady state stage from 320 to 386 s, and lastly the molten pool depth becomes shallow after 386 s. The melting rate and temperature of superheat increase with the remelting current increasing, which leads to the augment of molten pool volume. In the end, the total remelting time and steady state molten pool time decrease with the melting current from 1.6 to 2.8 kA.