Simulation of the induction soldering process of waveguide paths from aluminum alloys

A system of waveguide paths is a complex structure of various elements with various geometries. Induction soldering based on the induction heating method is one of the promising methods for waveguides fabricating. Induction soldering of waveguide paths has a number of technological features: the melting temperature of the base material AD31 (695-663 0C) slightly differs from the melting temperature of St. AK12 solder (577-580 0C) at an average induction heating rate of 20-25 0C / sec; a wide variety of standard sizes of waveguide paths elements complicates the development and subsequent reproduction of technological parameters of the induction soldering process; zones of maximum heating of waveguide paths elements do not coincide with zones of soldering. Therefore, to solve the problems of controlling the waveguides soldering process, it is necessary to simulate this process. The paper deals with the problem of simulating the process of heating a waveguide during induction soldering. Requirements for the process model have been formed. The model is built on the basis of the differential heat conduction equation. The formed model requirements take into account the geometric parameters of waveguides, the physical parameters of materials, the initial and boundary conditions, as well as the uneven distribution of eddy current density in the waveguide. It is proposed to use the finite difference method for the numerical solution of the heat conduction equation. The process of calculating the temperature at the grid nodes is shown. The authors propose a two-stage solution. At the first stage, at an intermediate time step, the temperature at the grid nodes along the X axis is calculated. At the second stage, the temperature at the grid nodes along the Y axis is calculated. The numerical solution of the difference equations along the X and Y axes is carried out by the sweep method. An algorithm for the numerical solution of the heat conduction equation has been developed.