Abstract:


Induction heating is a non-contact method by which electrically
conducting materials are heated due to heat losses caused by an
alternating electric field. Basically, an induction furnace consists
of an induction coil and the workpiece to be treated. An alternating
current traversing the coil induces eddy currents in the workpiece,
which is then heated due to Ohmic losses. Thus, the mathematical
model must take into account electromagnetic and thermal phenomena.

In this work we focus our interest in the mathematical analysis of
the electromagnetic problem. In the first part we introduce a new
formulation in terms of the electric field in the conductor and the
scalar magnetic potential in the surrounding air. This formulation
permits to impose either the voltage drop or the current intensity
supplied to the coil. In the second part we present an
integro-differential formulation of the electromagnetic problem,
which is discretized using a mixed boundary elements-finite elements
method. The electromagnetic model is coupled with thermal and
hydrodynamic models to carry out the numerical simulation of an
induction melting furnace.