Numerical Simulation Of Continuous Casting Square Billet During Induction Heating Process

The source of heat of induction heating process is joule heat of induced eddy current, and it is widely used in industrial production due to its fast speed, high efficiency, precise control, good uniformity, low pollution and so on. The electromagnetic induction heating process can be used to heat continuous casting billet online. That’s to say, it can be used to compensate for temperature before the temperature of continuous casting billet are not decreased dramatically, and then it can meet the demand of rolling billet. The key issue of induction heating process is how to set up the induction heating parameters. However, the design of an induction heating system based on experiments would be tedious and time-consuming, and the internal temperature is very hard to measure. Therefore, numerical simulation seems a well-adapted tool for the design and the investigation of induction heating system.The electromagnetic field differential control equation of induction heating process of continuous casting billet was derived based on Maxwell differential equations, and then the electromagnetic field differential control equation and the distribution of eddy current of different areas include induction coil, air and continuous casting billet was induced. The transient temperature field differential control equation was derived based on the law of conservation of energy and Fourier law.The induction heating process of continuous casting billet was described and simplified. ANSYS software was used to simulate the temperature field and distribution of eddy current of induction heating process. The main works include solid modeling, the selection of analysis unit, finite element mesh dividing, the definition of boundary conditions and the application of load. At last, the simulated result was analyzed.The simulated result was verified using the existing experimental conditions, and the results show that the simulation results are in good agreement with the measured results. The distribution of eddy current got by numerical simulation was compared with the results got by the existing theoretical formula, and we can see that the two curves are approximately identical.At last, the following conclutions were got by comparing the section temperature distribution of continuous casting billet under different parameters include current and frequency of induction coil, coil turns and initial temperature of the billet:1) With the increasement of frequency, the temperature of partial inner areas was decreased, but the outer areas was increased, so the nonuniformity of temperature rise;2) The current of induction coil can’t alter the temperature distribution, But it can improve the rise speed of the continuous casting b illet temperature;3) The initial temperature distribution can also affect the section temperature distribution of continuous casting billet. The heat was tending towards outer area at lower temperature;4) The change of coil turns has a similar rule with the change of current.5) A large rounded-corner of the mould within the allowable range can be chosen in the process of continuous casting. O ne reason is this design can reduce heat loss, the other reason is that it can make a uniform section temperature distribution of continuous casting billet.