Application of the method of equivalent thermal circuits in the calculation of thermal modes of induction crucible furnaces in stationary and non-stationary modes.

The article considers the application of a new method for calculating stationary and non-stationary thermal modes and parameters of an induction installation using the method of equivalent thermal circuits used to create energy-efficient control systems for operating modes of an electric furnace. Due to the identity of thermal circuits with linear electrical circuits, made with appropriate assumptions, for these circuits, the article uses the method of equivalent transformation of linear electrical circuits with the elimination of unknowns, which allows reducing the number of thermal bodies under consideration to a minimum. In this case, thermal conductivity and heat transfer are transformed as passive elements of a linear electric circuit, and losses and thermal capacities are active elements. The task of using the method of equivalent thermal circuits is the synthesis of an automatic control system for the thermal regime of an induction furnace, which boils down to the development and hardware implementation of an algorithm that provides optimal control of the melting of the charge using a mathematical model of an induction furnace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]