Numerical simulation of induction heating of steel bar with nonlinear material properties

In the continuous steel induction heating process, it is of great importance to control the surface temperature accurately. In this paper, induction heating process of PC steel bar with different carbon content is simulated. The experimental models of electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity of carbon steel depending on temperature and carbon content have been used in induction heating process with electromagnetic and thermal coupled field. The effects of carbon content on surface temperature of steel bar above Curie point were explored. The results show that for all of the steel bars with different carbon content the final surface temperature above Curie point tend to be nearly same after a certain period of heating. Moreover, the carbon content dependence of surface temperature for carbon steel has been presented before Curie point, which has not been demonstrated in the research work in existence. This provides a new method to precisely control mechanical properties of induction quenched-and-tempered steel.