Bilateral link between electrodynamics and acoustic phenomenon in super-power arc furnaces

Some super power arc electric furnace (AEF) systems have intrinsic negative features in the form of spontaneous mechanical oscillations of the whole gear, which result from the use of three phase industrial frequency AC electric power to supply the whole AEF system. Another negative factor inherent with AEF lies in ecological aspects, presenting itself in an extremely high acoustic noise level, which is also a result of the three phase industrial frequency AC and some physical phenomena in the furnace arc zone. The authors' experience with industrial AEF working at extremely high specific power regimes with working currents up to 100 kA has shown the existence of numerous problems, like amplification of electrodynamic interactions between the cables of secondary supply current system and also the increase in acoustic noise at a workshop near the furnace up to 120 dB instead of the 85 dB level acceptable under regulating rules. The investigation arises from these industrial problems with AEF, and is dedicated mainly to oscillation and noise phenomena. The investigation method used was mathematical modeling.