Investigations of high-frequency induction hardening process for piston rod of shock absorber

The microhardness of piston rods treated with different induction hardening processes was tested. The experimental results reveal that the depth of the hardened zone is proportional to the ratio of the moving speed of the piston rod to the output power of the induction generator. This result is proved correct through the Finite Element Method (FEM) simulation of the thermal field of induction heating. From tensile and impact tests, an optimized high frequency induction hardening process for piston rods has been obtained, where the output power was 82%×80 kW and the moving speed of workpiece was 5364 mm/min. The piston rods, treated by the optimized high frequency induction hardening process, show the best comprehensive mechanical performance.

Numerical analysis of 3D spot continual induction hardening on curved surface of AISI 1045 steel

In order to investigate and predict the material properties of curved surface AISI 1045 steel component during spot continual induction hardening(SCIH),a 3D model for curved surface workpieces which coupled electromagnetic,temperature and phase transformation fields was built by finite element software ANSYS.A small size inductor and magnetizer were used in this model,which can move along the top surface of workpiece flexibly.The effect of inductor moving velocity and workpiece radius on temperature field was analyzed and the heating delay phenomenon was found through comparing the simulated results.The temperature field results indicate that the heating delay phenomenon is more obvious under high inductor moving velocity condition.This trend becomes more obvious if the workpiece radius becomes larger.The predictions of microstructure and micro-hardness distribution were also carried out via this model.The predicted results show that the inductor moving velocity is the dominated factor for the distribution of 100% martensite region and phase transformation region.The influencing factor of workpiece radius on 100% martensite region and phase transformation region distribution is obvious under relatively high inductor moving velocity but inconspicuous under relatively low inductor moving velocity.

Quenchants for Induction Hardening for the Automotive Industry, Choice and Maintenance

The different types of quenchants for induction hardening - mainly for shower quenching - but also for immersion will be described in regard to their properties, film-formation, remaining residues, how to handle these etc.. Furtheron the maintenance of such quench fluids will be desribed in detail regarding concentration control, control of growth of micro-organism, contamination and maintenance.

Studies on induction hardening of powder-metallurgy-processed Fe–Cr/Mo alloys

Induction hardening of dense Fe–Cr/Mo alloys processed via the powder-metallurgy route was studied. The Fe-3Cr-0.5Mo, Fe-1.5Cr-0.2Mo, and Fe-0.85 Mo pre-alloyed powders were mixed with 0.4wt%, 0.6wt%, and 0.8wt% C and compacted at 500, 600, and 700 MPa, respectively. The compacts were sintered at 1473 K for 1 h and then cooled at 6 K/min. Ferrite with pearlite was mostly observed in the sintered alloys with 0.4wt% C, whereas a carbide network was also present in the alloys with 0.8wt% C. Graphite at prior particle boundaries led to deterioration of the mechanical properties of alloys with 0.8wt% C, whereas no significant induction hardening was achieved in alloys with 0.4wt% C. Among the investigated samples, alloys with 0.6wt% C exhibited the highest strength and ductility and were found to be suitable for induction hardening. The hardening was carried out at a frequency of 2.0 kHz for 2–3 s. A case depth of 2.5 mm was achieved while maintaining the bulk(interior) hardness of approximately HV 230. A martensitic structure was observed on the outer periphery of the samples. The hardness varied from HV 600 to HV 375 from the sample surface to the interior of the case hardened region. The best combination of properties and hardening depth was achieved in case of the Fe-1.5Cr-0.2Mo alloy with 0.6wt% C.

Case Depth Measurement of Induction Hardening Using Image Processing

Case depth measurement of the induction hardened steel parts is necessary for quality control. Vickers microhardness test is the most industrially accepted method to identify the case depth. But this method is a time consuming one and it requires expensive equipment. The aim of this study is to develop a different method to determine the case depth using image processing. The surface hardened steel samples were cross cut, ground and etched with Nital. The etched macrosectioned specimens were scanned by a scanner. The scanned images were evaluated by the developed software. The principle of the software is to identify the gray level difference. The effective case depths of the surface hardened specimens obtained by Vickers microhardness test and the developed method were compared. It was found that the deviation of the developed method was ±0.12 mm at the case depth range of 0.6 - 2.0 mm and mm at the case depth range of 2.1 - 4.3 mm. The measuring time was only 20% of Vickers microhardness test. The deviation range is much lower than the tolerance case depth specification for induction hardening in general.

FATIGUE LIVES FOR INDUCTION HARDENED SHAFTS MATERIALS ACCORDING TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL TEMPERATURES

Rotary bending fatigue tests were carried out with two kinds of materials, S43C and S50C, using the front engine and front drive shaft （FF shaft） of vehicle. The specimens were induction hardened about 1.0mm depth from the specimen surface, and the hardness value on the surface was about HRC56-60. The tested environment temperatures were -30, 25 and 80℃ in order to look over effect of the induction hardening and the environmental temperatures on the fatigue characteristics. The fatigue limit of induction hardened specimens increased more about 45% than non-hardened specimens showing that the endurances of S43C and S50C were 98.1 and 107.9MPa in non-hardened samples, 147.1 and 156.9MPa in hardened samplesrespectably. The maximum tensile and compressive stress on the small circular defect was about ＋250 and -450MPa respectively when circular defect is situated on top and bottom. The fatigue life increased 80, 25 and -30℃ in order regardless of hardening. In comparison of the fatigue lives on the basis of tested result at 25℃, the fatigue lives of non-hardened specimens decreased about 35%, but that of hardened specimens decreased about only 5% at 80℃ more than at 25℃. And fatigue life of non-hardened and hardened specimens were about 110% and 120% higher at -30℃ than that of 25℃. Based on the result of stress distribution near the defect, the tensile and compressive stress repeatedly generated by load direction were the largest on the small circular defect due to the stress concentration.

INFLUENCE OF SURFACE HARDENING ON CONTACT FATIGUE LIFE OF NODULAR CAST IRON

The influence of laser surface melting and induction hardening on the surface structure,con- tact fatigue life and failure behaviour of the nodular cast iron has been investigated.The con- tact fatigue life can be improved by both laser treatment and induction hardening,but the fail- ure process and type are different from each other.The former is due to lumpy and deep spal- ling caused by crack propagation between the quenching zone and the substrate,and the latter is due to nubby and surface flaking caused by the oil wedged action into surface cracks.

Local High-Frequency Heating in Electronics Technology

Modeling and investigation of HF electromagnetic heating in induction devices with unclosed magnetic circuit has allowed to optimize heating speed in local zones of formation of soldering connections and to improve their quality due to joint action of superficial effects and electromagnetic forces.For all magnetic materials is nonlinear decrease in heating power depending on frequency of HF.Installed the optimal parameters of HF heating for soldering electronics modules by inductor with open-ended magnetic conductor.

Parameter Optimization Study on Control of Distortion in Bright Bar Used In Rack Application Subjected To Induction Heat Treatment

The engineering properties of metals and alloys are related to their structures. The change in mechanical properties of the metals and alloys can be achieved by the process of heat treatment. Induction hardening is one such a process involves phase transformation by rapid heating and cooling of the outer surface. Induction hardening improves the outer surface hardness and wear resistant properties keeping the original toughness and ductility in the inner core. However past experiences shows that during heat treatment, parts have undergone dimensional changes due to thermal fluctuations and phase transformations. Dimensional changes can lead to excessive distortion in the component which always presented difficulties to the uses of many varieties of steels which can be hardened by induction hardening. The dimensional changes in components which have been induction hardened have for a long time proved costly and troublesome to manufacturers. These difficulties apply particularly in the automotive industry where the amount of distortion in rack and pinion assembly has been related to their noise level in operation and investigators have suggested a link between distortion and the initiation of fatigue failure. [1] Although the complete elimination of distortion would be an ideal aim, manufacturers are reconciled to the fact that a certain amount of distortion is an inherent part of the hardening process. However, if the amount of distortion is uniform and predictable, an allowance could be made in the initial machining operations. It was with these aims that investigations into the control of distortion in bright bar (EN 18D steel) used in rack application (Power steering assembly) have been carried out by parameter optimization

Multiphysics FEM Simulation of Contour Induction Hardening Process on Aeronautical Gears

Induction heating has been widely used by the heat treatment industry mainly in the wind-power and automotive sectors,in particular for hardening purposes,in a broad range of applications,its main advantages being the high repeatability and easy automation of the process,both factors leading to improved manufacturing efficiency and reduced CO;emissions.Though,traditional furnace-based case hardening treatments still represent the choice of reference when performance requirements are particularly demanding,either for the critical operating conditions or safety-related issues.The processes of CIH（Contour Induction Hardening）,compared to the traditional carburizing processes,allows to reduce the deformations after heat treatment.The main purpose of these treatments,as well as increases the surface hardness of the piece,is to induce compressive stresses in the superficial layer,improving the fatigue behavior.A multiphysics magneto-thermal simulation can be developed in order to calculate the temperature distribution in the gear,setting the input parameters such as currents,frequencies and treatment times.

Induction Hardening of Steel Tubes by Means of Internal Inductor

The paper deals with mathematical modeling of induction hardening of internal surfaces of steel tubes used for transportation of loose materials.First a comparison of two ways of induction surface hardening was provided.Then the coupled electromagnetic and temperature fields analysis was provided by means of single-owned packages.Quite good convergence between measurements done on especially built laboratory stand and computations was achieved.

Residual stresses of polycrystalline CBN abrasive grits brazed with a high-frequency induction heating technique

Residual stresses produced in polycrystalline CBN abrasive grits during a high-frequency induction brazing process are calculated by using ?nite element analysis, with a consideration of the nonuniform temperature distribution in the induction brazing model. The in?uences of induction brazing parameters on the residual stresses of polycrystalline CBN abrasive grits have been analyzed, including the embedding depth, grit side length, etc. Results obtained show that the tensile stress with a 40% embedding depth is 292 MPa, which is the minimum on the bonding interface compared with other embedding depths. Meanwhile, the maximum tensile stress is 575 MPa, with an increase of 59% compared with that of a grit side length of 50 mm. Finally, the simulation results of the brazing residual stress of polycrystalline CBN abrasive grits have been con?rmed valid based on the residual stress measurement of the brazed monocrystalline CBN grit.

Fatigue Properties Improvement of Low-Carbon Alloy Axle Steel by Induction Hardening and Shot Peening:A Prospective Comparison

Fatigue fracture is the major threat to the railway axle, which can be avoided or delayed by surface strengthening. In this study, a low-carbon alloy axle steel with two states was treated by surface induction hardening and shot peening, respectively, to reveal the mechanism of fatigue property improvement by microstructure characterization, microhardness measurement, residual stress analysis, roughness measurement, and rotary bending fatigue tests. The results indicate that both quenching and tempering treatment can effectively improve the fatigue properties of the modified axle steel. In addition, induction hardening can create an ideal hardened layer on the sample surface by phase transformation from the microstructure of ferrite and pearlite to martensite. By comparison, shot peening can modify the microstructure in surface layer by surface severe plastic deformation introducing a large number of dislocation and even cause grain refinement. Both induction hardening and shot peening create compressive residual stress into the surface layer of axle steel sample, which can effectively reduce the stress level applied to the metal surface during the rotary bending fatigue tests. On the whole, the contribution of induction hardening to the fatigue life of axle steel sample is better than that of the shot peening, and induction hardening shows obvious advantages in improving the fatigue life of axle steel.

Physics Informed Neural Network-based High-frequency Modeling of Induction Motors

The high-frequency(HF)modeling of induction motors plays a key role in predicting the motor terminal overvoltage and conducted emissions in a motor drive system.In this study,a physics informed neural network-based HF modeling method,which has the merits of high accuracy,good versatility,and simple parameterization,is proposed.The proposed model of the induction motor consists of a three-phase equivalent circuit with eighteen circuit elements per phase to ensure model accuracy.The per phase circuit structure is symmetric concerning its phase-start and phase-end points.This symmetry enables the proposed model to be applicable for both star-and delta-connected induction motors without having to recalculate the circuit element values when changing the motor connection from star to delta and vice versa.Motor physics knowledge,namely per-phase impedances,are used in the artificial neural network to obtain the values of the circuit elements.The parameterization can be easily implemented within a few minutes using a common personal computer(PC).Case studies verify the effectiveness of the proposed HF modeling method.

High-Frequency Induction Heating of Needle-Shaped Mg-Ferrite for Ablation Therapy of Human Cancer

For application as a novel ablation therapy of human cancer,the heating property of a needle-shaped Mg-ferrite prepared by a sintering technique was studied in a high-frequency induction field at 370 kHz.When inserted into cylindrical clay,the increase in temperature(Δ7)was 31.2℃ for the specimen with a 1.5 mm diameter,while the 1.0mm diameter specimen exhibited a ΔT value of 15.7℃ after the induction time of 1200s.The ΔT exhibited a high value of 57.9℃ during the simultaneous insertion of 3 1.5mm diameter specimens.In the computer simulation images, the relatively lower magnetic flux density and concurrent neghgibly low current density were observed from the surface to the internal regions,being different from the behavior of a ferromagnetic Ni-rod with the same size.

Compressive Strength and Interface Microstructure of PCBN Grains Brazed with High-Frequency Induction Heating Method

In order to prepare monolayer brazed superabrasive wheels, the polycrystalline cubic boron nitride（PCBN）grains were brazed to AISI 1045 steel matrix with Ag–Cu–Ti filler alloy using the high-frequency induction heating technique. The compressive strengths of brazed grains were measured. Morphology, chemical composition and phase component of the brazing resultant around PCBN grain were also characterized. The results show that the maximum compressive strength of brazed grains is obtained in the case of brazing temperature of 965 °C, which does not decrease the original grain strength. Strong joining between Ag–Cu–Ti alloy and PCBN grains is dependent on the brazing resultants,such as TiB_2, TiN and AlTi_3, the formation mechanism of which is also discussed. Under the given experimental conditions, the optimum heating parameters were determined to be current magnitude of 24 A and scanning speed of0.5 mm/s. Finally, the brazing-induced residual tensile stress, which has a great influence on the grain fracture behavior in grinding, was determined through finite element analysis.

人工缺陷下感应淬火重载铁路车轴损伤容限评价

目的研究不同感应淬火工艺对重载铁路车轴钢试样梯度结构的影响,阐明不同人工缺陷下感应淬火试样的疲劳断裂行为,并评价损伤容限,为重载铁路车轴感应淬火工艺设计和损伤容限评价提供理论基础和评价方法。方法在AAR-CM车轴钢试样表面采用不同感应淬火工艺参数制备不同深度淬硬层,采用X射线测量淬硬层残余应力分布,通过电火花和空气炮在正火态和感应淬火试样表面制备不同尺寸的电火花或冲击损伤,采用疲劳试验机研究损伤试样的弯曲疲劳性能,借助光学显微镜和扫描电镜分析试样的损伤机理和疲劳断裂行为,并对其疲劳性能进行评价。结果在3种工艺下感应淬火试样有效淬硬层深度分别为800、1200、1400μm。在电火花缺口尺寸较小时,感应淬火试样的疲劳强度比正火态试样高出50%。在冲击损伤尺寸较小时,感应淬火试样的疲劳强度比正火态试样高出40%。较小的尺寸冲击损伤对正火态和感应淬火处理试样的疲劳强度无影响。结论感应淬火可提高重载铁路车轴钢试样表面强度,进而提高其耐冲击性能,残余压应力减弱了电火花缺口试样和低速冲击损伤对试样疲劳强度的影响,高速冲击破坏了试样表面完整性,并削弱了残余压应力的作用,试样的疲劳强度急剧降低。文中设计的淬硬层深度对感应淬火试样损伤容限的影响较小。

感应加热温度对滚珠丝杠用S55C钢微观组织及力学性能的影响

为了优化感应淬火工艺参数,改善滚珠丝杠表面硬度和力学性能,研究了滚珠丝杠用S55C钢的感应淬火工艺.利用自行设计的感应加热工装对滚珠丝杠用S55C钢试样进行感应淬火处理,使用光学显微镜和扫描电子显微镜进行微观结构表征,并采用拉伸试验、金相实验和显微硬度测试,分析了感应加热温度对试样的微观组织、显微硬度和断口形貌等方面的影响.结果表明:油冷时,当试样加热至960℃左右,微观组织为均匀细小马氏体,维氏硬度约为750,抗拉强度约为1200 MPa;水冷时,当试样加热至860℃左右,微观组织也为均匀细小马氏体,维氏硬度约为800,抗拉强度约为780 MPa;油冷试样和水冷试样在室温拉伸时所展现的断裂方式均为脆性断裂,油冷试样多表现出解理断裂特征,而水冷试样沿晶断裂特征更明显,并出现明显的冰糖状断裂形貌.该研究结果可为滚珠丝杠用S55C钢感应淬火工艺的设计提供理论依据和技术指导.

42CrMo钢长轴感应淬火裂纹原因分析

观察了感应淬火后42CrMo钢长轴开裂的微观组织、裂纹形貌并测试其化学成分和力学性能,分析了裂纹的形成原因。结果表明:裂纹沿轴向分布且仅存在于大直径区域的淬硬层,与心部相比,该区域晶粒异常粗大且部分晶界熔化,裂纹沿晶扩展,裂纹内存在氧化物,因此判断裂纹产生的主要原因是感应淬火工艺参数不当,导致在长轴直径增大区域的淬火加热温度过高,从而造成淬硬层发生过烧、晶界弱化甚至烧蚀,从而出现裂纹。相比小直径区域,大直径区域的淬硬层较厚、硬度偏低,也佐证了该论断。