Model reduction for experimental thermal characterization of a holding furnace

• Published in: Heat and mass transfer Vol. 54; no. 8; pp. 2443 - 2452
• Main Authors: Loussouarn, Thomas, Maillet, Denis, Remy, Benjamin, Dan, Diane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.08.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Electric induction furnaces; Engineering; Engineering Thermodynamics; Furnaces; Heat and Mass Transfer; Holding furnaces; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Mathematical models; Model reduction; Original; Parameter estimation; Parameter identification; Radiative transfer; Solidification; Thermodynamic properties; Thermodynamics; Turbine blades
• ISSN: 0947-7411; 1432-1181
• DOI: 10.1007/s00231-017-2156-7

Vacuum holding induction furnaces are used for the manufacturing of turbine blades by loss wax foundry process. The control of solidification parameters is a key factor for the manufacturing of these parts. The definition of the structure of a reduced heat transfer model with experimental identification through an estimation of its parameters is required here. Internal sensors outputs, together with this model, can be used for assessing the thermal state of the furnace through an inverse approach, for a better control. Here, an axisymmetric furnace and its load have been numerically modelled using FlexPDE, a finite elements code. The internal induction heat source as well as the transient radiative transfer inside the furnace are calculated through this detailed model. A reduced lumped body model has been constructed to represent the numerical furnace. The model reduction and the estimation of the parameters of the lumped body have been made using a Levenberg-Marquardt least squares minimization algorithm, using two synthetic temperature signals with a further validation test.