1. M.
HARI PRIYA, 052
2. MEGHA PANDEY,053
3. MEEKALA NIKITHA,054
4. MANAS MONDAL, 056
5. NACHIKET BAPAT,057
WHAT IS INDUCTION HEATING ?
Induction heating is the process of heating an electrically
conducting object (usually a metal) by electromagnetic induction,
through heat generated in the object by eddy currents.
What makes this method so unique? Heat is actually induced
within the part and not by direct heating.
Induction heating relies on the unique characteristics of radio
frequency (RF) energy. Since heat is transferred to the product via
electromagnetic waves, the part never comes into direct contact with
any flame and there is no product contamination.
This process needs a coil, a high-frequency AC supply and a work piece
to be heated.
WORKING
• AC current is supplied to an inductor and
the work piece is placed inside the inductor.
As the part enters the rapidly alternating
magnetic field, circulating eddy currents are
induced within this part.
• These eddy currents thus generate localized
heat (due to resistance to these currents or
due to hysteresis losses)without any direct
contact between the part and the inductor.
• The frequency of current used depends on the object size, material type,
coupling (between the work coil and the object to be heated) and the
penetration depth.
Induction heating is done using two methods:
1) The first method is referred to as eddy current
heating from the I²R losses caused from
the resistivity of a work piece’s material.
2) The second is referred to as hysteretic heating, in
which energy is produced within a part by the
alternating magnetic field generated.
KEY BENEFITS OF INDUCTION
HEATING
The benefits of induction heating are:
Efficient and quick heating
Accurate, repeatable heating and
controllable.
Safe heating as there is no flame, hence no
product contamination.
Prolonged life of fixturing due to accurate
heating.
Eddy Current Ferromagnetic Material
IMPORTANT FACTORS TO CONSIDER
[Link] Characteristics of the work-piece:
There are mainly four characteristics of the
work piece-
i)Material- Method of induction heating can directly
work with conducting materials i.e. metals; plastics cannot
be heated directly.
ii)Magnetic property- Magnetic materials are easy to
heat,as hysteresis effect also contribute in heating with eddy
current.
iii)Thickness-Thin parts generally heat more quickly than
large thick parts,because heating intensity decreases as
distance from surface increases.
iv)Resistivity-For two materials of same size,material with
higher resistivity will heat faster than material with lower
resistivity.
[Link] Design: Design of coil should be such that work
piece can be placed inside the coil.
[Link] Depth: As penetration depth is
inversely proportional to square root of operating
frequency,lower value of frequency has greater depth of
penetration.
[Link] of temperature change required:
Efficiency of induction heating depends upon
degree of temperature change required,which depends upon
operating [Link], more induction heating power is
generally utilized to increase the degree of temperature
change.
APPLICATIONS
[Link] furnace
An induction furnace uses induction to heat
metal to its melting point. Once molten, the
high-frequency magnetic field can also be
used to stir the hot metal, which is useful in
ensuring that alloying additions are fully
mixed into the melt. Induction furnaces
. are used in most modern foundries as a
cleaner method of melting metals than
a reverberatory furnace or a cupola .
Vacuum furnaces make use of induction
heating for the production of specialty
steels and other alloys that would oxidize if
heated in the presence of air.
[Link] welding
A similar, smaller-scale process is
used for induction welding. Plastics may also be
welded by induction, if they are either doped with
ferromagnetic ceramics (where magnetic hysteresis
of the particles provides the heat required) or by
metallic particles
[Link] cooking
In induction cooking, an induction coil
in the cook-top heats the iron base of
cookware by cyclic magnetic
induction. Copper-bottomed pans,
aluminium pans and other non-ferrous
pans are generally unsuitable. The
heat induced in the base is transferred
to the food via (metal surface)
conduction. Benefits of induction
cookers include efficiency, safety (the
induction cook-top is not heated itself)
and speed. Both permanently installed
and portable induction cookers are
available.
[Link] Brazing
It is a process in which two or more materials are
Joined together by filler metal that has lower
Melting point than the base materials using
Induction heating.
[Link] Sealing:
Induction heating is used in cap sealing of containers in the food
and pharmaceutical industries. A layer of aluminum foil is placed
over the bottle or jar opening and heating by induction to fuse it
to the container. This provides a tamper-resistant seal, since
altering the contents requires breaking the foil
[Link] Treatment
Induction heating is often used in the heat treatment of metal
items. The most common applications are induction hardening
of steel parts, induction soldering /brazing as a means of joining
metal components and induction annealing to selectively soften
an area of a steel part.