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    What Is Induction Heating

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    bio_stud
    Induction heating is a process which is used to bond, harden or soften metals. Heat is actually "induced" within the part itself by circulating electrical currents. Induction heating relies on the unique characteristics of radio frequency energy.

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    What Is Induction Heating

    Uploaded by

    bio_stud
    126 views3 pages
    Induction heating is a process which is used to bond, harden or soften metals. Heat is actually "induced" within the part itself by circulating electrical currents. Induction heating relies on the unique characteristics of radio frequency energy.

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    What is Induction Heating

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    Induction heating is a process which is used to bond, harden or soften metals. Heat is actually "induced" within the part itself by circulating electrical currents. Induction heating relies on the unique characteristics of radio frequency energy.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    126 views3 pages

    What Is Induction Heating

    Uploaded by

    bio_stud
    Induction heating is a process which is used to bond, harden or soften metals. Heat is actually "induced" within the part itself by circulating electrical currents. Induction heating relies on the unique characteristics of radio frequency energy.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    c 

      
    
       is a process which is used to bond, harden or soften metals or other conductive materials. For
    many modern manufacturing processes, induction heating offers an attractive combination of speed, consistency and
    control.

    The basic principles of induction heating have been understood and applied to manufacturing since the 1920s. During
    World War II, the technology developed rapidly to meet urgent wartime requirements for a fast, reliable process to
    harden metal engine parts. More recently, the focus on lean manufacturing techniques and emphasis on improved
    quality control have led to a rediscovery of induction technology, along with the development of precisely controlled,
    all solid state induction power supplies.

    What makes this heating method so unique? In the most common heating methods, a torch or open flame is directly
    applied to the metal part. But with induction heating, heat is actually "induced" within the part itself by circulating
    electrical currents.

    Induction heating relies on the unique characteristics of    


       - that portion of the
    electromagnetic spectrum below infrared and microwave energy. Since heat is transferred to the product via
    electromagnetic waves, the part never comes into direct contact with any flame, the coil itself does not get hot (watch
    video at upper right), and there is no product contamination. When properly set up, the process becomes very
    repeatable and controllable.

    c  c!"


    How exactly does induction heating work? It helps to have a basic
    understanding of the principles of electricity. When an alternating
    electrical current is applied to the primary of a transformer, an
    alternating magnetic field is created. According to #$%,
    if the secondary of the transformer is located within the magnetic
    field, an electric current will be induced.

    In a basic induction heating setup shown at right, a solid state RF


    power supply sends an AC current through a copper coil
    (inductor), and the part to be heated (the workpiece) is placed
    inside the coil. The coil serves as the transformer primary and the part to be heated becomes a short circuit
    secondary. When a metal part is placed within the induction coil and enters the magnetic field, circulating eddy
    currents are induced within the part.

    As shown in the second diagram, these eddy currents flow against the electrical resistivity of the metal, generating
    precise and localized heat without any direct contact between the part and the coil. This heating occurs with both
    magnetic and non-magnetic parts, and is often referred to as the "& '  
    ", referring to Joule's first law ± a
    scientific formula expressing the relationship between heat produced by electrical current passed through a
    conductor.

    Secondarily, additional heat is produced within magnetic parts


    through    ± internal friction that is created when magnetic
    parts pass through the induction coil. Magnetic materials naturally
    offer electrical resistance to the rapidly changing magnetic fields
    within the coil. This resistance produces internal friction which in
    turn produces heat.

    In the process of heating the material, there is therefore no contact


    between the coil and the part, and neither are there any
    combustion gases. The material to be heated can be located in a
    setting isolated from the power supply; submerged in a liquid,
    covered by isolated substances, in gaseous atmospheres or even
    in a vacuum.
    ()""
    The efficiency of an induction heating system for a specific application depends on several factors: the characteristics
    of the part itself, the design of the induction coil, the capacity of the power supply, and the amount of temperature
    change required for the application.

    The Characteristics of the Part


    METAL OR PLASTIC
    First, induction heating works directly only with conductive materials, normally metals. Plastics and other non-
    conductive materials can often be heated indirectly by first heating a conductive metal susceptor which transfers heat
    to the non-conductive material.

    MAGNETIC OR NON-MAGNETIC
    It is easier to heat magnetic materials. In addition to the heat induced by eddy currents, magnetic materials also
    produce heat through what is called the hysteresis effect (described above). This effect ceases to occur at
    temperatures above the "  " point - the temperature at which a magnetic material loses its magnetic properties.
    The relative resistance of magnetic materials is rated on a ³permeability´ scale of 100 to 500; while non-magnetics
    have a permeability of 1, magnetic materials can have a permeability as high as 500.

    THICK OR THIN
    With conductive materials, about 85% of the heating effect occurs on the surface or "skin" of the part; the heating
    intensity diminishes as the distance from the surface increases. So small or thin parts generally heat more quickly
    than large thick parts, especially if the larger parts need to be heated all the way through.

    Research has shown a relationship between the frequency of the alternating current and the heating depth of
    penetration: the higher the frequency, the shallower the heating in the part. Frequencies of 100 to 400 kHz produce
    relatively high-energy heat, ideal for quickly heating small parts or the surface/skin of larger parts. For deep,
    penetrating heat, longer heating cycles at lower frequencies of 5 to 30 kHz have been shown to be most effective.

    RESISTIVITY
    If you use the exact same induction process to heat two same size pieces of steel and copper, the results will be
    quite different. Why? Steel ± along with carbon, tin and tungsten ± has high electrical  *. Because these
    metals strongly resist the current flow, heat builds up quickly. Low resistivity metals such as copper, brass and
    aluminum take longer to heat. Resistivity increases with temperature, so a very hot piece of steel will be more
    receptive to induction heating than a cold piece.

    Induction Coil Design


    It is within the induction coil that the varying magnetic field required
    for induction heating is developed through the flow of alternating
    current.
    So
    '  is one of the most important aspects of the overall
    system.
    A well-designed coil provides the proper heating pattern for your
    part and maximizes the efficiency of the induction heating power
    supply, while still allowing easy insertion and removal of the part.

    Power Supply Capacity


    The size of the induction power supply required for heating a
    particular
    part can be easily calculated. First, one must determine how much
    energy needs to be transferred to the work-piece. This depends on the mass of the material being heated, the
    specific heat of the material, and the rise in temperature required. Heat losses
    from
    
     ,
    *
      and   should also be considered.

    Degree of Temperature Change Required


    Finally, the efficiency of induction heating for specific application depends on the amount of temperature change
    required. A wide range of temperature changes can be accomodated; as a rule of thumb, more induction heating
    power is generally utilized to increase the degree of temperature change.

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