Induction Heating Modeling with ANSYS

In this video, I'm going to show you how to model induction heating using two different approaches. The first approach is to use system coupling. First, we need to prepare the Maxwell model. I've already created a simple model here. It includes a coil that has AC current flowing through it.

The AC current will induce any current losses in the distance. To connect the disc next to the coil, we can define temperature-dependent material properties for the disc. Check the thermal modifier and then edit the bulk conductivity. We can use an expression.

This means the conductivity is constant when the temperature is equal to or less than 22 Celsius. If the temperature is above 22 Celsius, the conductivity is an expression of temperature. The next thing to do is to set the temperature and enable feedback. Make sure these two boxes are checked.

Then we need to add a system coupling setup. Once added, we can save the Maxwell model and close it. If we go back to the Maxwell folder, a SCP file is created, and we will need it for system coupling later. The second model we need to prepare is the mechanical model in the Workbench.

I've already created one here. In Mechanical, we only need the geometry of the disk, as we are modeling the temperature distribution on the disk. The convection boundary condition has been set here. Then we need to right-click steady-state thermal and insert system coupling region.

Then select the body of the disk as the geometry of the region. After that is done, right-click steady-state thermal again and write system coupling files. Then we can save the model and close it.

If we go back to the Mechanical folder, we will see this SCP file has been created, which we will need later. Now, we can launch the system coupling. When we open it, it will ask us to select a folder. We can select the same one where Maxwell and Mechanical are saved.

Now, right-click on Setup and click Add Participant. Select the SCP file that was created for Maxwell. Right-click on Setup again and click Add Participant. Select the SCP file that was created for Mechanical. Then right-click Setup and click Add Coupling Interface.

For the coupling interface, side 1 should be Electronics Desktop region is Disk, side 2 should be Mechanical Thermal, and the region is System Coupling Region. Now, right-click Coupling Interface 1, click Add Data Transfer. This one is to transfer the temperature to Maxwell.

Then add another data transfer. The target side should be the mechanical thermal. This one is to transfer EM losses to mechanical thermal. Now, all the setups are done, and we can right-click solution and click solve. Once it is done solving, we can view the results in the Maxwell model.

We can plot the temperature distribution on the disk in Maxwell. We can also view the results in Mechanical. After we open the model, the solution is not available yet. We need to load it by clicking Solution, Read Results Files, and then select the R file from the Mechanical folder.

Then we can view the results in Mechanical, which match with Maxwell. Now I'll show you the second approach. Once we have the Maxwell model, right-click the model name and select Create Target Design. Then select target design type as Mechanical. A mechanical model will be created automatically.

The natural convection has been set automatically. The map loss has also been set from this project and from this model. What we need to do is to right-click setup and add two-way coupling. We can choose any number of iterations. After that, right-click setup and analyze it.

After the model is solved, we can view the results in AEDT Mechanical Model. The temperature range of the disk is about 42 to 47 degrees. We can also view the results in Maxwell, which will give the same results.

If we go back to the Maxwell model used in system coupling, we can also get very similar results. For this example, particularly, the second approach can be easier as both Maxwell and Mechanical are within ANSYS Electronics Desktop and have very similar interfaces.

The system coupling, on the other hand, can be more, and it can couple Maxwell and Fluent. Please contact us at https://ozeninc.com/contact for more information.