An analysis of electromagnetic forces on cooking vessels used in domestic induction heating appliances oriented to identify the properties of materials

We analyze the forces exerted on the pots used as loads of induction heating appliances. These forces depend on the parameters of the induction heating system and also depend on the arrangement and geometry of the application. Forces can be calculated by means of finite element tools but not straightforwardly because the materials of pot combine both eddy currents and ferromagnetism. For this reason, the Maxwell's stress tensor is used. The exerted force causes the change of the weight of the pot when power is supplied, with respect to the off state. The change of weight is theoretically analyzed and experimentally measured. As it is also shown, the change of weight is also related with the electromagnetic properties of materials and the operating frequency, and this fact can be used to characterize the induction loads. Calculations are validated by means of an experimental setup arranged by means of load cells.