Simulation and experimental research on local continuous induction heating of inner corrugated section

Abstract

The inner corrugated pressure-resistant shell has superior pressure resistance and can be formed by continuous rolling with corrugated rolls. However, there is a problem of excessive temperature drop during the rolling process. Meanwhile, lower rolling temperature leads to larger deformation resistance which affects plastic forming and increases the load of the rolling mill, which makes the size and shape control of the inner corrugated section more unstable. There is thickness variation in the inner corrugated section. The local supplementation and continuous induction heating of the inner corrugated section to complete the energy supplementation during the rolling of the inner corrugated section is an issue worthy of investigation. In this paper, Rectangular, profiling and anti-profiling coils were designed for the structure of the inner corrugated section, and continuous induction heating is carried out through the induction coil at the local position of the inner corrugated section. Based on the comparison of the simulation results, the heating efficiencies of rectangular coil, profiling coil, and anti-profiling coil were 46.39%, 75.07%, and 41.16%, respectively. The induction heating of the profiling coil is more efficient and uniform. Moreover, by optimizing the process parameters of profiling coil induction heating, the effects, caused by current, frequency, and air gap, on the induction heating results of the inner corrugated section were studied and analyzed, and the optimal profiling coil induction heating process parameters were obtained. Finally, an experimental platform for induction heating of the inner corrugated section was built. The induction heating experiment of the inner corrugated section was carried out by rectangular, profiling, and anti-profiling coil respectively. The experimental results were compared and analyzed, the heating efficiencies of rectangular coil, profiling coil, and anti-profiling coil were 47.88%, 84.14%, and 50.27%, respectively. The profiling coil had high heating efficiency and good uniformity.