Design and Testing of Coils for Pulsed Electromagnetic Forming

Abstract

Coil design influences the distribution of electromagnetic forces applied to both the blank and the coil. The required energy of the process is usually defined by deformation of the blank. However, the discharge also results in a significant amount of heat being generated and accumulating in the coil. Therefore, EMF process design involves working with three different problems: 1) propagation of an electromagnetic field through the coil-blank system and generation of pulsed electromagnetic pressure in specified areas, 2) high-rate deformation of the blank, and 3) heat accumulation and transfer through the coil with the cooling system. In the current work, propagation of an electromagnetic field in the coil, blank, die and surrounding air was defined using a consistent set of quasi stationary Maxwell equations applying a corresponding set of parameters for each media. Furthermore, a deformation of the blank driven by electromagnetic forces distributed through the volume of the blank was modeled using a solid mechanics equation of motion and the elastic plastic flow theory. During the discharge of capacitors the process was considered to be adiabatic due to the short duration of the pulse, so a heat transfer during the discharge time was neglected. The distribution of electric current density integrated during the discharge process defines the increase of temperature at every element of the coil. The distribution of temperature was calculated as a function of time using the energy conservation law.