Numerical Study of Ti6Al4V Alloy Tube Heated by Super-Frequency Induction Heating

Ti6Al4V alloys have a narrow processing window, which complicates temperature control, especially during large-scale production. Therefore, a numerical simulation and experimental study on the ultrasonic induction heating process of a Ti6Al4V titanium alloy tube were conducted to obtain stable heating. The electromagnetic and thermal fields in the process of ultrasonic frequency induction heating were calculated. The effects of the current frequency and current value on the thermal and current fields were numerically analyzed. The increase in current frequency enhances the skin and edge effects, but heat permeability was achieved in the super audio frequency range, and the temperature difference between the interior and exterior of the tube was less than 1%. An increase in the applied current value and current frequency caused an increase in the tube's temperature, but the influence of current was more prominent. Therefore, the influence of stepwise feeding, reciprocating motion, and stepwise feeding superimposed motion on the heating temperature field of the tube blank was evaluated. The coil reciprocating with the roll can maintain the temperature of the tube within the target temperature range during the deformation stage. The simulation results were validated experimentally, which demonstrated good agreement between the results. The numerical simulation method can be used to monitor the temperature distribution of Ti6Al4V alloy tubes during the super-frequency induction heating process. This is an economical and effective tool for predicting the induction heating process of Ti6Al4V alloy tubes. Moreover, online induction heating in the form of reciprocating motion is a feasible strategy for processing Ti6Al4V alloy tubes.