Robust optimal control of induction heating under interval uncertainty

The main goal of the researches is the development of new approaches and algorithms of robust optimal control for metal induction heating prior a hot forming. Two-dimensional time-optimal control problem is formulated assuming that complete information with respect to the initial temperature and heat losses is not available and that their interval uncertainty can be written in the form of inequalities. Optimal control technique and computational procedure for problem solution are described in details; results of computations are provided as an example of the proposed technique application to the various processes of aluminium alloy billets heating. The total process time loss is compared with optimal process time calculated for precisely determined data. The suggested problem-oriented approach based on the optimal control theory for systems with distributed parameters has the computational attractiveness, significant reduction of consuming time and broad applicability in the real-life problems of heat transfer processes in electrical and mechanical engineering. Copyright © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.