FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER IN AN AGING HEAT FURNACE FOR ALUMINUM ALLOY PLATES

Structural materials for the aerospace industry require high hardness and easy machining in certain tempers that, particularly, 2014 aluminum alloy may withstand successfully. The proper aging heat treatment from the aluminum raw plate, from the initial, hall temperature, all the way to the final product, which may take up to roughly 9 hours, is an important quality concern. An important role in understanding these thermal processes is played by mathematical modeling, which provides for the ability to simulate and optimize such processes at an industrial scale. Numerical modeling is used here to assist the optimization of the aging process. The results compare well with the available industrial tests data on an indirectly heated, fuel-fired batch furnace that is used to this end. This study is aimed to model the airflow inside the furnace during the aging process with a particular focus on predicting the dynamics of the internal thermal field distribution.