Application of Virtual Instrument & Neutral Network in Heat Treatment Furnace Verification

The heat treatment process makes strict demands on the stability of furnace temperature, so does the testing of furnace temperature uniformity in the field of furnace verification. Therefore, furnace temperature control and measurement should be made. The temperature measurement and control system of heat treatment furnace was developed using the technologies of virtual instrument and neutral networks. The software module of the system adopted the BP neutral network model to adjust the PID parameters of furnace temperature, according to which the PID temperature control model is built. This kind of intelligent algorithm is implemented on the LabView 7.0 platform. Combined with the system hardware module used to do data acquisition and signal conversion, the whole control system is able to hold the furnace temperature to a certain degree rapidly, steadily and accurately, which makes great sense to the heat treatment process and the temperature uniformity testing in furnace verification. Experiments of data acquisition and processing were made on furnace temperature rising, holding and measurement, during which the type S thermocouples were used to test the effective heating zone of heat treatment furnace. The practice results show that the utilization of virtual instrument and neutral networks technique improves the performance of furnace temperature control and measurement. The temperature measurement and control system is real-time, exact and reliable.