Additive Manufacturing Heating Coil for High-Frequency Hardening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional annular metal heating coils for high-frequency heaters suffer from limited coverage of the hardening process, susceptibility to damage under high output conditions, and reproducibility issues in manufacturing, leading to variations in the quality of the material being heated.
Innovation Solution
A heating coil integrally formed using a partial welding lamination method or melt extrusion lamination method based on three-dimensional data, featuring a pair of plate-shaped grounding and supporting portions, and a sequence of circumferential heating units with slit-like sinking portions along the inner peripheral edge, allowing for efficient current distribution and cooling medium flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If an annular metal heating coil is used for hardening process, then the heating coil can be formed by bonding components with silver solder, but the applied high-frequency current flows only in a close vicinity of the inner peripheral edge, making it difficult to perform hardening on the material to be worked in a wide range
Solution Approach 1:
The heating coil is divided into multiple independent heating units arranged in a specific pattern. Each heating unit has its own grounding portions and generates electromagnetic fields independently. This segmentation allows the high-frequency current to be distributed across multiple locations, expanding the heating coverage area while maintaining uniform current distribution through the coordinated arrangement of multiple units rather than relying on a single annular structure
Solution Approach 2:
The heating coil uses an asymmetric arrangement of multiple heating units with different positions and orientations rather than a symmetric annular structure. This asymmetric configuration optimizes the electromagnetic field distribution to achieve wider heating coverage and more uniform current flow across the material surface, resolving the limitation of conventional annular coils where current concentrates only at the inner peripheral edge
2Ease of manufacture
If the conventional heating coil is formed by brazing a plurality of components, then the heating coil can be assembled, but it is difficult to manufacture products having the same characteristics with good reproducibility during manufacturing, causing variation in the quality of the material to be worked
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple heating units are integrated into a single integrally formed coil structure where all components (grounding portions, heating elements, and connecting parts) are manufactured as one piece using additive manufacturing. This merging eliminates the need for brazing or bonding separate components, ensuring perfect reproducibility and consistent electrical characteristics across all manufactured coils while maintaining ease of manufacture through direct digital fabrication
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing method transitions from traditional brazing processes to additive manufacturing with controlled material deposition parameters. By changing the manufacturing approach to layer-by-layer construction with precise control of heating, melting, and solidification parameters, the invention achieves both ease of manufacture and high product consistency, eliminating variability introduced by manual assembly and brazing operations
3Power
If the conventional heating coil is used under high output conditions, then the processing condition of applying high-frequency power supply can be achieved, but continuous use easily causes damage, leading to a situation in which a cooling medium leaks out
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling channels are integrated directly into the integral coil structure, with cooling passages formed within the grounding portions and connecting elements. This merging of cooling functionality into the single-piece structure eliminates weak points at brazed joints, allowing the coil to withstand high output conditions continuously without damage or cooling medium leakage, while maintaining excellent heat dissipation performance
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The proposed heating coil design enables efficient hardening of materials over a wide range, withstands high-frequency power supply outputs without damage, and ensures consistent product quality with good reproducibility, while avoiding the use of silver solder for improved durability.
Implementation Method 1
a heating coil used for a high-frequency heater configured to heat a material to be worked using electromagnetic induction by a high-frequency current
Implementation Method 2
processing (what is called, a hardening process) in which the surface of the material to be worked is heated to a temperature equal to or more than a transformation point
Data Source
AI summary
A heating coil (1) is integrally formed by a modeling method of repeating laying, melting, solidifying, and laminating of a powder containing a conductive material based on three-dimensional data. The heating coil includes a pair of plate-shaped grounding portions (2a, 2b) for contact with an electrode through which a high-frequency current is flowed, a pair of plate-shaped supporting portions (3a, 3b) disposed to be perpendicular to the respective grounding portions (2a, 2b), and a sequence of circumferential heating unit (4) disposed to connect distal ends of the supporting portions (3a, 3b) to one another. Three sinking portions (slit-like portions 5, 5 . . . ) are formed in an inner peripheral edge of the heating unit (4) so as to lie along a radiation direction from a center of a heating unit (4).