Optimization of the electrical technology complex for high-performance induction heating lines

The paper discusses the design issues of a high-performance induction installation for heating ferromagnetic billets before processing on deforming equipment. Specific features of the technological process of heating ferromagnetic billets to plastic strain temperatures are noted. It is shown that in order to increase the efficiency of the process, the heating of large-sized preforms from ferromagnetic steel is advisable to be carried out in a two-frequency induction heater with two autonomous sections. A study of the heating process in a two-section heater of ferromagnetic billets was carried out taking into account the nonlinear dependence of the physical characteristics of the heated billets metal on the temperature changing during heating. The problem of minimizing the length of a two-section heater is formulated and solved taking into account energy and technological limitations. A condition for determining the optimal length of the first section is to achieve a temperature corresponding to the loss of magnetic properties in the layer equal to the depth of current penetration at the frequency of the second section power supply. The results of numerical calculation of the optimal parameters of a two-section heater are presented. It is shown that the power distribution algorithm along the length of a two-section heater is a piecewise constant function. The results of calculating the temperature distribution in the workpieces during heating are presented. The results of the study can be used to solve the problem of optimizing the structural and operational parameters of a multi-section heater.