Numerical analysis by new proposed coil design method in induction heating process for semi-solid forming and its experimental verification with globalization evaluation

In this paper, four procedures for optimizing inductive coil design are presented to reduce computational time and lead time. First, a theoretical coil design is proposed by defining the quantitative relationship between billet length and coil length. Second, the numerical simulation of the induction heating process using a general purpose finite element analysis code, ANSYS, is carried out to predict the temperature distribution. Third, an objective function on the basis of the optimization process for the coil design is proposed by introducing an optimization technique. Finally, the results of the optimal coil design are also applied to the induction heating process to obtain a fine globular microstructure. The proposed objective function based on the computational techniques and numerical simulation model would contribute to producing thixoformed parts with good mechanical properties and reducing lead time. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.