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Reduction of cell voltage through redesign of the stub holes of cast iron rodded anodes is an attractive idea. In practice, stub hole optimisation is not an easy task and in situ trials may yield what seem to be counter-intuitive results.A closer examination reveals a complex behaviour of the steel stub -cast iron -carbon joint. It was shown in previous work [1] to be a non-linear thermal-electrical-mechanical coupled system. Minimisation of the stub-to-carbon voltage drop is a balancing act between contact surface area and electrical contact resistance.To gain insights into the merits of different designs, a finite element demonstration model was built using the in-house code FESh++. Alternative configurations were studied. Potential industrial applications are discussed. IntroductionCast iron is typically used to connect the steel stubs of the anode hangers to the carbon anodes used in Hall-Héroult cells. The steel stubs are positioned into specially designed holes in the carbon anode -the stub holes -where molten iron can be cast. The solidified cast iron in the stub hole plays the role of a mechanical, thermal and electrical connection.

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