Computer Modeling of Induction Heating of Metals

Many of commercial codes used for computer modeling of induction heating processes are all-purpose generalized programs that were primarily developed for modeling electro-thermal processes taking place in electrical machines, motors, medical, circuit breakers, non-destructive testing, transformers, magnetic recording systems and were later adapted to induction heating needs. A necessity to sell products to as many customers as possible forces software developers to produce universal simulation tools that can be used by much larger industries compared to induction heating.

As a result, certain process subtleties related to induction heating of metals were “over-looked” by developers or substantially simplified. Regardless of well-recognized impressive capabilities of modern numerical commercial software, many of generalized programs experience difficulties in taking into consideration certain features of induction heating applications.

Presentation provides an objective assessment of a variety of generalized commercially available software for modeling of induction metal heating. It also discuses common misinterpretations, misassumptions, and errors occurred while applying some commercially available software. Case studies of computer simulations of a variety of induction heating applications will be discussed in this presentation as well.