Modeling and Simulation of Induction Heating with Magnetic Flux Concentrator

Abstract

Induction heating possesses wide application in surface hardening for steels. In recent years, the emergence of metal powder bonded magnetic flux concentrator (MPB-MFC) enables induction heating better capability, efficiency, and controllability, therefore the analytical understanding through modeling and simulation becomes necessary for process design and optimization. In this paper, the mechanism of the energy transformation in induction heating with magnetic flux concentrator is carried out. The MPB-MFC assisted induction heating for AISI 1045 steel is studied by comparing the finite element simulation with experimental results. The finite element model solves the coupled electro-magnetic-thermal computation problem, which also involves the consideration of the non-linear material magnetic properties in the process. To verify the simulation, middle-frequency induction heating experiments are conducted to compare with the simulated results. The comparison proves the efficacy of the FEM model, and discloses the inner-correlation of the thermal-magnetic-electric fields in the process.