45 / 78
ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES •
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2014
45
HTPRO
11
NEW TECHNICAL RESOURCE
FOR INDUCTION HEATING
PROFESSIONALS
THE RECENTLY PUBLISHED
INDUCTION HEATING AND HEAT TREATMENT
, VOL 4 C,
ASM HANDBOOK
,
IS THE RESULT OF AN AMBITIOUS UNDERTAKING TO COMPILE AN ALL-NEW, COMPREHENSIVE
RESOURCE ON INDUCTION THERMAL PROCESSES.
Dr. Valery Rudnev,* FASM,
Inductoheat Inc.
Heating by means of electromagnetic
induction is a topic of major signifi-
cance, and the technology continues
to grow at an accelerated rate. Ther-
mal applications include hardening,
tempering, stress relieving, brazing,
soldering, melting, normalizing, an-
nealing, and coating, as well as reheat-
ing ferrous and nonferrous metallic
materials prior to warm and hot work-
ing. The recently published
Induction
Heating and Heat Treatment
, Vol 4C,
ASM Handbook
, is the result of an am-
bitious undertaking to compile an all-
new, comprehensive resource on
induction thermal processes to meet
the needs of the induction heating and
heat treating communities.
Continuing in the tradition of the
ASM
Handbook
series, Vol 4C combines prac-
tical knowledge in ready-to-use diagrams,
technical procedures, guidelines, know-
how, and good practices with up-to-date
knowledge emphasizing the specifics of
induction processes compared with alter-
native technologies. Common miscon-
ceptions, erroneous assumptions, and
misleading postulations are clarified and
explained using easy-to-understand com-
puter modeling charts, practical data, and
numerous case studies.
This technical resource provides a prac-
tical, comprehensive reference on the
technologies and applications of in-
duction heating and heat treatment. It is
written for design, manufacturing, and
materials engineers. Internationally rec-
ognized experts from leading universi-
ties, research laboratories, and industrial
corporations from 10 countries con-
tributed to this handbook.
Following is a brief glimpse of the
breadth of content in Volume 4C,
which begins with a review of
electrical, electromagnetic, heat
transfer, and material science fun-
damentals related to induction
heating. Other critical facets asso-
ciated with induction heating tech-
nologies are also discussed, such as
the nonequilibrium nature of phase
transformations and other metal-
lurgical subtleties related to the
specifics of induction hardening,
tempering, and stress relieving. At-
tention is given to the effect of
prior microstructure on the selec-
tion of required temperatures and
process parameters, and guidelines
are presented that reflect the differ-
ences in stel response to the short
heating times.
Subtleties of induction hardening of
critical components such as shafts,
gears, axle shafts, camshafts, crank-
shafts, and other components used in au-
tomotive and off-road machinery,
aeronautic and aerospace, farming, appli-
ance, and oil and gas industries are also
covered. Several articles introduce novel
technologies and know-how that enable
minimizing part distortion dramatically
after heat treating, which potentially could
lead to elimination of secondary opera-
tions such as straightening. For example,
regardless of the complexity of camshaft
geometry, shape of lobes (Fig. 1), and po-
sitioning, novel induction hardening tech-
niques often make it possible to obtain
accurate contour hardness patterns. This
produces uniform fine-grain martensitic
surface layers and almost undetectable
distortion (Fig. 2), which, in turn, im-
proves overall process cost-effectiveness,
energy efficiency, and quality of heat
treated components
[1]
.
A critical review of ASTM and SAE
*Member of ASM International and Heat Treating Society
Fig. 1 —
Automotive cam lobe shape
varies depending on engine design.
Courtesy of Inductoheat Inc.
Fig. 2 —
True contour hardening of
camshaft lobes. Courtesy of Inductoheat
Inc.