Experimental Observation and Numerical Prediction of Induction Heating in a Graphite Test Article

T.A. Jankowski[1], D.P. Johnson[1], J.D. Jurney[1], J.E. Freer[1], L.M. Dougherty[1], and S.A. Stout[1]

[1]Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
Published in 2009

The induction heating coils used in the plutonium casting furnaces at the Los Alamos National Laboratory are studied here. A cylindrical graphite test article has been built, instrumented with thermocouples, and heated in the induction coil that is normally used to preheat the molds during casting operations. The experiments have been modeled in COMSOL Multiphysics and the numerical and experimental results are compared to one another. These comparisons provide insight into the heating process and provide a benchmark for COMSOL calculations of induction heating in the mold portion of the plutonium casting furnaces.

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