Design of induction heating devices using ELTA and 2DELTA software

This work deals with investigating of heat treatment and forging steel billets of round and rectangular cross-section using induction method of heating. Several industrial processes and induction installations used nowadays are very old and have to be sufficiently improved from technical and economical point of view. The first steps `Conceive - Design' before `Implement - Operate' ones need detail experimental and calculation investigations. The general-purpose FE programs such as Flux 2D and 3D, Ansys, etc. are rather complicated and time - consuming software to realise computer simulation. In multi-stage induction lines, the number of stages and the overall space are very big, that creates difficulties in using these programs. The ideology of ELTA programs is different. The engineering programs do not require special knowledge in computer simulation due to simple self-explanatory interfaces, preinstalled design options and database. This presentation is devoted to design of induction systems using programs ELTA 6.0 and 2DELTA. ELTA is a program based on 1D and 2D Finite Difference Method (FDM) with semi-analytical account for the lengths of individual inductors and loads. Calculations in ELTA are designed `in series of steps', i.e. power and temperature are calculated for each heating stage (inside the induction coils) and `cooling' stage (spaces between coils, quenching and holding zones). 2DELTA provides a two dimensional simulation of electromagnetic and thermal fields in cylindrical induction heaters using both integral and differential numerical methods. Multiple tests and comparison of simulation and experimental results show good accuracy of these programs. Description of the computer assisted design of induction lines is illustrated by several examples.