Computer Assisted Design of Induction Processes for Surface Engineering of Vehicle Parts

The induction heat treating method is being used to heat treat more and more vehicle components every day. The most critical component in an induction heat treating system is the induction coil. The existing practice of coil design is based mainly on an empirical approach and the use of “rules of thumb”. This old technique for designing induction coils is slowly being replaced by modern design techniques incorporating computer simulation, the most advanced materials and technology for their manufacturing. A general description of the advantages of induction heating and inductor design considerations and procedure is contained in this paper. The present paper also contains a detailed description of computer simulation for induction heating. An example of a computer simulation study for a robot guided induction scanning process and case hardening an axle fillet area are presented. These two cases focus on the influence of magnetic flux controllers and the potential for computer assisted design in the induction heating technique.