Effects of locations of a 3-D design object in a 3-D radiant furnace for prescribed uniform thermal conditions

This article deals with the study of effects of locations for prescribed uniform thermal conditions on a 3-D design object (DO) placed on the bottom of a 3-D radiant furnace. For the desired uniform thermal conditions, importance of locations of the DO is exemplified. For a given power range of the panel heaters, for each of the three sizes of the DO, study is made for different possible locations. In each case, the heat flux distribution on the surfaces of DO is estimated. For a particular DO, the suitability of any location is judged by comparing the estimated heat flux distribution on the DO, with that of the desired one. For any DO, at any location, for uniform thermal conditions, all panel heaters may not be operating at the same power. This aspect also has been demonstrated for three sample locations of DO, and the results have been analyzed. For each of the locations, powers of the heaters vary a lot, and to yield the prescribed uniform thermal conditions, not all but very few heaters are needed. The estimated uniformity of the thermal conditions is greatly influenced by location of the DO inside the furnace. In this analysis, radiative information has been calculated using the radiation element method by ray emission model and the objective function has been minimized using the micro-genetic algorithm. - Highlights: → For the desired uniform thermal conditions on the 3-D design object, heat flux is estimated. → 22 locations of the design object are considered. → 3 sizes of the design objects are considered. → Provides a guideline to manufacturer about the maximum size of design object.