Channel induction furnace (CIF) has been widely used for melting, holding and casting of metal owing to its advantages such as higher power factor, low power consumption and less stirring of molten metal because magnetic induction line follows the closed iron core.
In general, CIF is composed of induction units with iron core, inductor and channel, and a molten metal bath. The induction units are assembled in the furnace body and are separated when the furnace needs repairing. If an electric current flows through the inductor, very large induced current flows through the channel due to electromagnetic induction phenomenon. Then, the channel is heated by Joule heat from the induced current, and this heat makes the metal molten through continuous transfer into the molten metal bath. Therefore, the temperature of the channel gets higher than that of the molten metal bath during melting, and it shortens the repair cycle of the furnace due to severe erosion of lining of the channel.
To overcome such problems, Song Hak Myong, a researcher at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, analyzed the melting and flow of molten metal in the channel of CIF using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4 and Taguchi method, and decided the design parameters of a single loop channel induction furnace (SLCIF).
The simulation result demonstrated that the proposed parameters (establishment angle of channel: 36° and cross section size of channel: 100×74mm2) can sufficiently increase the working life because of the lower maximum local superheating temperature of channel (52K) than other CIFs.
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