Ring Workpiece Heat Treatment with Oscillating Induction Coils
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heat-treatment methods for ring-shaped workpieces face challenges in uniformly heating the entire circumference, leading to difficulties in forming a uniform hardened layer due to gaps between heating coils and joint generation during heat processing.
Innovation Solution
A heat-treatment device with a pair of heat processing units that move in opposite directions along the peripheral surface of the workpiece, accompanied by oscillating revolving arms to ensure uniform heating, and a dual coolant discharge system to maintain consistent cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If two movable cooling jackets are arranged between two high-frequency induction heating coils, then quenching can be initiated at a specific position, but a gap is created between the heating coils making it difficult to heat the workpiece to austenitization temperature uniformly
Solution Approach 1:
The heating system is divided into multiple high-frequency induction heating coils arranged along the peripheral surface of the workpiece. Each coil can be independently controlled to heat specific zones, allowing the workpiece to reach austenitization temperature uniformly across the entire circumference despite the presence of cooling jackets at specific positions.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling jackets are positioned at specific locations where quenching initiation is required, while heating coils are distributed throughout to ensure uniform austenitization. This local differentiation allows simultaneous achievement of uniform heating and controlled quenching initiation without mutual interference.
2Area of stationary object
If two heating coils are moved in opposite directions to quench different portions of the workpiece, then coverage is improved, but joints are generated in heat processing at the meeting point
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple heat processing units are arranged to overlap in their coverage zones along the peripheral surface of the workpiece. This overlapping arrangement ensures continuous heat treatment coverage without gaps or joints, as each unit's heating zone overlaps with adjacent units, eliminating the joint formation problem that occurs when coils simply meet at boundaries.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple heat processing units operate simultaneously with overlapping coverage zones, merging their heating effects to achieve continuous uniform heat treatment across the entire workpiece circumference. This combined approach eliminates the discontinuities and joints that would result from sequential or non-overlapping coil movement.
3Area of stationary object
If heating coils are positioned to cover the entire peripheral surface, then heating coverage is improved, but the complexity of the device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The heat processing units are designed to be movable along the peripheral surface of the workpiece rather than being fixed in position. This dynamic capability allows a smaller number of units to achieve complete coverage by moving to different positions, reducing the total number of coils needed compared to a static system that would require coils at every possible position.
Solution Approach 2:
Each heat processing unit is designed as a multi-functional module capable of heating different zones of the workpiece at different positions. These universal units can be relocated along the peripheral surface to cover the entire area, replacing the need for multiple dedicated fixed coils for each specific zone, thereby reducing overall device complexity.
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 method allows for uniform heat processing across the entire circumference of the workpiece, preventing joint generation and ensuring a uniform hardened layer is formed.
Implementation Method 1
heating a ring-shaped member using one or two heating coils
Implementation Method 2
heats a ring-shaped member using one or two heating coils
Implementation Method 3
cools the ring-shaped member
Data Source
AI summary
A heat-treatment device 10 includes a table 11 on which a ring-shaped workpiece W can be placed, and a pair of heat processing units 20 for heat-processing the peripheral surface of the workpiece W. The heat-treatment device 10 is used for obtaining the workpiece W having desired properties by the heat-processing the workpiece W while the pair of heat processing units 20 move in opposite directions along the peripheral surface of the workpiece W. The heat-treatment device 10 is configured in such a way that a pair of revolving arms 30 movable relative to the table 11 oscillate the pair of heat processing units 20 relative to the workpiece W, thereby heat-processing the peripheral surface of the workpiece W. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to obtain a heat-treatment device heat-processing the entire circumference of a ring-shaped workpiece.