Projects : RAVEL

Originally developed as a solver for modeling electron beam remelting, the software has evolved into a comprehensive package for simulating the vacuum arc remelting (VAR) process. It comprises two main components: RAVEL (the core solver) and RAVEL UI (the graphical interface).

RAVEL offers the following capabilities:

• Ingot growth modeling using dynamic meshing, with support for horizontal and vertical mesh refinement.
• Electromagnetic field calculations, including current density and induced magnetic fields, with support for temporally and spatially varying asymmetric arc current distributions.
• External magnetic field stirring.
• Advanced lateral cooling models.
• Radiative cooling at the ingot top, using both simplified and view-factor-based approaches.
• Solute evaporation modeling at the ingot surface.
• Ingot shrinkage simulation.
• Gas cooling mechanisms.
• Solidification modeling.
• Mass transfer and microsegregation analysis.
• Defect formation prediction.
• Multiple user-selectable turbulence models.
• Cross-platform compatibility (Windows and Linux).
• Support for massively parallel simulations.

RAVEL UI is primarily used to prepare case files for execution on computing clusters. Alternatively, a Python interface is available for case setup and batch execution workflows.

The software is developed in collaboration with Club SOLAR, which includes partners such as Institut Jean Lamour, Aperam, Aubert & Duval, Framatome, and TIMET.