Mathematical Modelling of Aluminum Reduction Cell Potshell Deformation

Abstract

One of the key components of an aluminum reduction cell design is the potshell design. The potshell must be designed in such a way that it will not deform excessively in operation and will remain as much as possible in elastic deformation mode. Yet, over-designed potshell are very costly. So, it is important to achieve a design where all sections are getting their fair share of the total load and are being charged close to their elastic limit.It is obviously impossible to achieve such an optimal potshell design without extensive use of mathematical modeling tools. Three such tools are presented here in order of complexity namely the "empty shell", the "almost empty shell" and the "half empty shell" ANSYS ® based thermo-mechanical models. Results are presented for each model, both in elastic and plastic modes, as well as required CPU times.