Modelling Induction Heating of a solid round bar for a new 3D Metal Printer Method

Abstract

Dr. Sean O’Byrne identified a new method to create three dimensional metal objects using three dimensional printing. This new method was thought of to design a three dimensional printer that would be energy efficient and affordable for the consumer market. This new method uses induction heating as the heating element in a fused deposition modeling three dimensional printing process. To be able to design such a three dimensional printer, a validated mathematical model is required to be able to calculate the rise in temperature in a tube from induction heating. To create and validate such a model the theory of induction heating is researched to calculate the heat generated in a round solid bar. Then the heat transfer equations were evaluated for the specific application. From this a MATLAB Model was written to calculate the rise in temperature in a round solid bar. An experiment was then conducted to validate the model. The experiment didn’t provide accurate results however it showed that the model required additional work. This lead to a new model being written that agreed more with the behavior of the induction heating process in a round solid bar.