This paper mainly investigated the effects of different inductor patterns on thermal forming behavior of ship hull plate by moving induction heating. Alternately-coupled electromagnetic-thermal analysis procedure considering temperature-dependent material properties was firstly implemented at each moving step of inductor, followed with uncoupled thermal-mechanical transient analysis to obtain corresponding thermal deformation. Then temperature distribution, dimensions (breadth b and depth h) of heat-affected zone, and deformation obtained from codirectional current-carrying inductor with no gap and opposite-direction current-carrying inductor with gap were compared, respectively. And effects of heating directions and distance T2 of ODIG were also analyzed. It turns out that codirectional current-carrying inductor with no gap can generate much larger transverse shrinkage at 1.8–2.5 mm/s than opposite-direction current-carrying inductor with gap, otherwise smaller at 3.2–4.0 mm/s, likewise larger temperature gradient at 1.8–4.0 mm/s and thus larger bending angular deformation. Besides, heating direction “Out” can generate larger deformation than “In” and deformation for opposite-direction current-carrying inductor with gap can be effectively improved through adjusting distance T2 until 13 mm. These indicate that adopting appropriate inductor patterns, heating direction and distance T2 of opposite-direction current-carrying inductor with gap can significantly improve thermal forming behavior.
A Study on Two-Dimensional Forming of Ship Hull Plate by Geometrical Approach