AUTOMOTIVE PART HARDENING
Electromagnetic Induction is one proven method of generating heat within a part for hardening or tempering a steel or cast iron part. Any electrical conductor can be heated by induction.
Surface Induction heating is a process where by the surface layers of a ferrous material are heated by induced eddy currents, created by an inductive loop coil in close proximity to the components. If surface temperatures are raised above the transformation range and the component is then quenched, surface hardening occurs. This technique is used for local surface hardening with minimum distortion and without substantially softening the core and is normally applied to steels having a carbon level above 0.25%. The principal metallurgical advantages that may be obtained by surface hardening with induction include increased wear resistance and improved fatigue strength.
Non-hardening induction heating treatments are also used for
- Local softening prior to machining or forming.
- Local stress relieving and/or tempering
- Heating for expansion fitments.
Megatherm offers a variety of advanced induction hardening machines with static medium or high-frequency inverters.
The application engineers will select the machine and its power ratings and frequency depending on production rate, shape of components, case depth, pattern and hardness. Various machines with different process-based operations are available like :
- Progressive hardening with vertical or horizontal scanners.
- Rotary indexing with static mode heating.
- Rotary scanning with drop quench.
- Contour hardening as per requirement.
- Other custom-built machines to meet the requirement.
Megatherm can supply static converters from 50 ‐ 500kw and with a frequency 1, 3, 10, 30 and 100 kHz to get the desired hardening or tempering requirement.
