A Lagrangian approach for solving an axisymmetric thermo-electromagnetic problem. Application to time-varying geometry processes

Abstract

The aim of this work is to introduce a thermo-electromagnetic model for calculating the temperature and the power dissipated in cylindrical pieces whose geometry varies with time and undergoes large deformations; the motion will be a known data. The work will be a first step towards building a complete thermo-electromagnetic-mechanical model suitable for simulating electrically assisted forming processes, which is the main motivation of the work. The electromagnetic model will be obtained from the time-harmonic eddy current problem with an in-plane current; the source will be given in terms of currents or voltages defined at some parts of the boundary. Finite element methods based on a Lagrangian weak formulation will be used for the numerical solution. This approach will avoid the need to compute and remesh the thermo-electromagnetic domain along the time. The numerical tools will be implemented in FEniCS and validated by using a suitable test also solved in Eulerian coordinates.