Numerical Analysis of an Inverse Boundary Design Problem of a 3-D Radiant Furnace with a 3-D Design Object

Abstract

For the uniform thermal conditions, the present study investigates the constraints on the size of a 3-D design object (DO) that can be placed inside a 3-D radiant furnace. To cover a wide range of the dimensions of the DO, 29 models are considered. Radiation element method by ray emission model (REM²) is used to calculate the radiative information. The objective function is minimized using the micro-genetic algorithm (MGA). Estimated heat flux distributions on the DOs are compared with the desired uniform heat flux distribution. The suitability of a DO is decided on the basis of the maximum allowable deviation of the estimated heat flux. For a given power range of the panel heaters, study has also been made for different values of the desired uniform heat flux. For a realistic heating process for uniform thermal conditions, this study provides a guideline for a priori knowing the maximum possible size of a DO that can be processed inside a radiant furnace.

Acknowledgments

The first author (RPC) duly acknowledges the support received from the Global COE Program World Center of Education and Research for Trans-Disciplinary Flow Dynamics, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.