Investigation of heating and melting in ELTA programs Vladimir Bukanin, Aleksandr Ivanov and Alexei Zenkov Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University “LETI”, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is obtaining the optimal parameters of induction heating and melting systems by use of the new programs ELectro-Thermal Analysis (ELTA) 8.0 and Induction Crucible Furnace (ICF) to improve a quality of final products. Design/methodology/approach – Simulation of continuous through heating prior a drawing through the draw plate is realized by an optimization procedure. Additional application of ELTA 8.0 “Heating of Wire” reveals the relationship between power, time and thermal profile of load during heating. Rational variants of ICFs for melting processes are obtained using several step-by-step iterations. Findings – ELTA 8.0 program permits to optimize the continuous heating of copper, steel, titanium and other wires. ICF ELTA program was used at the initial stage of the development of new technological processes and the ICFs. This program provides a preliminary evaluation of an induction melting process and system before the use of more sophisticated 2D or 3D programs. Results of optimization allowed to find a rational decision of an induction system, the required parameters of a refractory and a power supply. Non- conductive and graphite crucibles of the furnace were compared from electrical and economical points of view. Originality/value – Fast calculation of ELTA programs allows the designer to provide the required temperature distribution in a cross section and along the part to control the real-time processes of heating and melting. Keywords Induction heating, Design optimization methodology, Program, Induction melting, Crucible furnace, Optimization Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction Two technological processes where induction systems are commonly used are heating and melting of metals. Development of induction heating processes and equipment requires the computation programs for accurate simulation of electromagnetic, thermal fields and integral parameters. Considerable attention is paid to the optimization of the heating and melting processes. Integration of calculation model in the real technological processes is a prospective task that can obtain the required information about the temperature distribution to control the parameters of induction heating system. 1.1 Induction heating system for cylindrical load The quality of wire in the process of the wire drawing through the draw plate depends on value and uniformity of temperature in the cross section. In the real technological process, the temperature sensors allow to measure surface temperature of the load in the center of the coil or in the output end of the coil. As several metals have a low thermal conductivity depending on losses from the surface, it is possible to observe regimes of the induction heating, when the temperature below the surface is higher than on the surface. The proposed Heating and melting in ELTA programs 117 Received 31 May 2019 Revised 30 August 2019 Accepted 30 October 2019 COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering Vol. 39 No. 1, 2020 pp. 117-124 © Emerald Publishing Limited 0332-1649 DOI 10.1108/COMPEL-05-2019-0219 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/0332-1649.htm