Induction Heat Treating Uses

Induction heat treating is the process of using induction coils to heat conductive materials to a point that changes their physical or mechanical properties. When a conductive material is brought within or in proximity to an inductive coil, heat is generated. This heat can be used to change the mechanical properties of the material.

The most common use is to harden specific areas or to provide a case depth of hardness while maintaining a softer core. By hardening only the required areas to provide wear resistance or strength in specific areas, other desirable properties of the material remain unchanged. The base material or surrounding areas remain ductile and less likely to crack or break. Just as in other forms of heat treating, the material must be heated and cooled rapidly at a controlled rate to achieve the desired hardness. A benefit of induction hardening is that while the material is being handled it can often be induction tempered as well, reducing other handling or furnace operations.

Induction heat treating is also used for annealing materials that have been previously hardened by another process. Annealing specifically refers to the process of bringing the material to its softest point. This is quite useful when the entire part must remain hard, but a specific area must be annealed for further processing (drilling, tapping, etc…) or is desired to be softer for other desired mechanical properties.

Induction heating is also used in industry to heat forgings, melt steel and various process and assembly related activities. One of the more common uses is brazing and soldering. Advantages include extremely fast cycle times and control. Parts that require a press fit are often heated prior to assembly. Induction heating has also been used to weld tube seems and also to apply heat activated seals to bottles or containers. In the process industry, induction heating has also been used to speed up processes or reaction, such as paint drying and curing. It has also become a household technology though the introduction of induction cook-tops that heat iron cookware almost instantly.

At Zion industries we offer the following services: Induction heat treating, induction annealing, induction tempering, and induction brazing.

Lou Ghinga
Estimator
Zion Industries