Nonplanar mold surface heating using external inductive coil and magnetic shielding materials

A set of three-dimensional steady-state finite element numerical simulations of temperature distributions was performed for various coil geometries with and without magnetic shielding materials on a nonplanar mold plate surface subjected to induction heating. The surface was used for fabricating a miniature automotive spoiler. A comparison between the simulated and experimental results showed that the location of the inductive coils relative to the processed workpiece remarkably influenced the temperature distribution and heating efficiency. In particular, the proximity effect, which leads to nonuniform heating along the workpiece wall, was ameliorated by introducing magnetic shielding materials on the coil design.