Abstract
Finite element analysis (FEA) techniques are used extensively in industry to design new products and process vessels and to better understand the behavior of existing ones. This paper summarizes the authors' experience in using FEA to model Hall-Heroult reduction cells. FEA capabilities necessary to adequately simulate thermo-electric, electro-magnetic and stress fields within the cell are identified. Specific examples of models developed using the commercially available ANSYS FEA program are discussed.