Why is it Induction Hardened ?

Among many application of induction Heaters, hardening is more predominant so it is worthwhile to summarise some of the advantages of it.

• Efficient way of heating exactly at the specified area of the job.
• Uniform result with an established heating cycle.
• A substantial reduction in heating time, increased rate of production.
• Rejection reduction to minimum or entirely eliminated.
• Elimination of subsequent operation like cleaning and straightening.
• Elimination of dirty and hazardous carborising process.
• Cheaper, readily available and easily machinable plain carbon steel replaces costly alloy and special   steel.
• Accurate control of case depth.
• Quickest way of case hardening.
• No oxidation or scaling on the surface.
• Normalisation and tempering operation often eliminated.
• The inner cores and other surface practically remains cool and unaltered metallurgical. Hyper hardness of 2 to 7 Rc higher than conventional means obtained  because of more complete solution and diffusion of iron carbide. Produces a fine and homogenous nodular type of martensite structure.
• Severity in quenching is not need as in case of furnace heating.
• Machinability after heat treatment is possible on surface other than the specified hardened band.
• No skilled operator is needed and equipment can be completely automated.
• No standby losses, no shutdown and less maintenance.
• Equipment ready for use immediately.
• Inspection requirement simplified by timely detection of defective parts during heating.
• Uniform temperature distribution upon the desired depth by curie effect.
• A gradient transition zone form hardened surface to ductile core increases strength.
• A good finish and fewer problems in grinding as a result of fine grain size.
• Does not require large area of floor space.
• Induction heating equipment can be incorporated with other machine in manufacturing process
• Operational environment is cleaner and safer than the other existing and contemplated methods.
• Selective hardening without copper plating and  machining as in conventional methods.Self-quenching is possible with a rapid heating by high power density next only to laser.
• Hardening the job submerged in quenching tank is possible only by this process.
• Different degree of hardness in single work piece.
• All these advantages of Induction hardening opens up new possibilities for a design engineer in his product design.