Product conformity depends on control systems and an event-free setting born of a pollutant-less environment. All but eliminated by tightly maintained quality standards, the final pollutant of note in this scenario is air. Remember, ambient air changes when subjected to heat, meaning it creates convection currents. Such thermal events are unpredictable and likely to jeopardise the distribution of thermal energy, meaning processed parts will be compromised. This is unacceptable, especially when the unevenly distributed heat is applied to geometrically complex components.
If a super-hot industrial-grade furnace is to achieve true uniformity, then a vacuum is a highly desirable part of the process. Heat is released, it radiates, and there is no deviation of thermal activity to deal with. The vacuum favours a linear transmission of generated energy, which results in the kind of controlled environment that falls in line with computer regulating subsystems. In fact, the majority of modern vacuum heat treatment equipment is appointed with this kind of control circuitry, logical timing controls and compact housings that incorporate a modular series of heat treatment stations, with every station falling within the vacuum, thus removing the unpredictability associated with atmospheric convection.
Operating at a fiery temperature range that shifts between 1,300°C and 1,600°C, the vacuum heat treatment process remains stable and predictable, which equals a repeatable procedure, one that will consistently output identically case hardened components. Quenching is part of the internalised cycle, so hardness and wear resistance properties are equally open to computer-initiated regulation. Special thermocouple controls maintain the relationship between heating and cooling sequences, matching both against the quenching stage to create heat treated parts that meet or even exceed aeronautical standards and military assessed specifications.
Free of all gaseous contaminants, the process is now doubly open to material property manipulation through atmospheric injection. In short, the furnaces can add inert gases and catalysing agents, carbon and other specific gases that change how the metal absorbs alloying materials, thus broadening the functions of the furnaces to incorporate gases that fare well in a vacuum.
Hardening takes place in this controlled environment, as does residual stress relief and other practices that increase the workability of the component. The induction hardening and tempering process is a member of this elite heat treatment family, an innovative method of using state-of-the-art technology to localize contact-free alterations in the microcrystalline structure of a specific metal. Let’s take a closer look at the advantages of this disciplined heat treatment procedure.
Induction hardening and tempering uses high-frequency electrical currents and scalable electromagnetic fields to achieve precise control of heat patterns, meaning the active thermal stage can treat individual sections of a part to create a precise hardening profile.
Faster than traditional tempering, the equipment switches to a low-frequency electrical induction circuit to improve the hardness-to-toughness relationship of the product. Ductility and machinability is delivered in minutes instead of hours, making the overall job far more productive when it’s used as part of a manufacturing cycle.
Electrical induction technology utilizes electromagnetic fields to “induce” a thermal event, a selective high-temperature spike that is controlled by electronic circuitry. The contactless nature of the technique requires kilowatts of electrical energy, resulting in two contact-free methods. First, static (single-shot) hardening holds the metal piece in place. The electrical coils are located around the part and triggered to treat individual sections, thus hardening them to create an exact hardening profile. The transverse model turns this technique on its head by progressively passing the component through a series of charged coils. The latter technique is favoured when elongated metal parts required hardening. These include but are not limited to shafts, steel pins, drive linkages, and axles.
Every advantage highlighted thus far covers control and narrow definition targeting, for these factors mean everything when induction hardening and tempering is incorporated as a lead section of a production line. Temperature profiles bring all of the above benefits together. The induction hardening stage is open to a precision control model, a performance setup that ties with computerized systems to apply rigorously tested hardening curves and to reinforce this mechanically accurate heat treatment mechanism with an equally efficient tempering solution, one that leverages the properties of electronically derived electromagnetic fields.