High-frequency induction heating for small-foreign-metal particle detection using 400 kHz SiC-MOSFETs inverter

This paper presents a detection method of small-foreign-metal particles using a 400 kHz silicon-carbide (SiC)-metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect-transistors (MOSFETs) high-frequency inverter. A 400 kHz SiC-MOSFETs high-frequency inverter is developed and applied to small-foreign-metal particles detection on high-performance chemical films (HPCFs). A new placement of induction heating (IH) coils, which is staggered-placement IH coils, is proposed. It is shown that small-foreign-metal particles consisting of 0.7 mm diameter stainless steel balls (SUS304) on an A4-paper-size film can be detected with the proposed staggered-placement IH coils using JSOL JMAG software, which is a 3D full-wave electromagnetic field simulation software. A prototype experimental model with the proposed staggered-placement IH coils is constructed and tested. Experimental results demonstrate that the IH coils with the constructed 400 kHz SiC-MOSFETs can heat small-foreign-metal particles, which can then be detected by a thermographic camera. Experimental results with the proposed staggered-placement of IH coils also demonstrate that the proposed detection method of small-foreign-metal particles using a 400 kHz SiC-MOSFETs high-frequency inverter is applicable to actual HPCF production lines.