HIGH-FREQUENCY INDUCTION HEATING

High-frequency Induction Heating

BY

FRANK W. CURTYS
Chief Engineer, Van Norman Company

Second Edition

McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK TORONTO 1950 LONDON

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Induction heating has undergone many improvements during the past few years, largely in connection with application techniques. While principles have remained the same, a better knowledge of their use prevails, and today users of high-frequency generators have a broader selection of coils, fixtures and process data to draw form for the solution of heating problems. In this edition a more comprehensive analysis of coil design has been included. A work coil is the basis around which induction heating functions. Therefore, by having a wider variety of designs from which choose, the more efficient can a setup be made. Many new forms of coils are described, together with basic principles with which the user of high-frequency equipment should be familiar. The discussion of fixture designs likewise has been expanded, because, along with coils, they form the most important considerations form successfully processing parts by means of induction heat. Localized hardening and the joining of metal assemblies are the principle uses for induction heating, and the chapters dealing with these two applications include a more comprehensive analysis of production requirements. Types of steels best suited to induction hardening, various means of quenching, soft solders, brazing alloys and fluxes all are treated in greater detail. Users of high-frequency heating equipment invariably seek technical information relating to application problems and it is in response to this need that the second edition has been enlarged.

Frank W. Curtis

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

The purpose of this book is to offer the user of high-frequency induction-heating equipment basic technical application details that will serve as a ready reference in connection with the heating of metal parts, such as may be required for hardening, heat-treating, brazing, soldering, annealing, stressrelieving, forging, upsetting, or melting. Though the generation of highfrequency current is an electrical function, putting this current to practical use becomes almost entirely mechanical. It is with this thought in mind that the user of induction-heating equipment is more concerned. Therefore, other than brief references to electrical data characteristic to this type of heating, the text is confined to application technique. High-frequency heating has already demonstrated remarkable versatility in many industries and without doubt will exert a marked influence on future product design and manufacturing process-planning. Heating methods have always undergone a transition of one kind or another, and it is logical to assume that induction-heating principles will open an important field of possibilities in economies and production gains. The text includes a broad coverage of heating coils and fixtures as used in hardening and joining operations, since these constitute the main requirements of a successful application. References area made to product design because technically there are advantages in considering the fundamental needs of induction heating when constructional details of a component are originated. In view of the association so often made between induction heating and dielectric heating, a brief chapter has been included on the latter, mainly for the purpose of showing the differences between these two methods of heat transfer. This textbook would not have been possible without the generous assistance of manufacturers and users of high-frequency equipment who have contributed illustrations showing induction-heating illustrations in use. The author takes this opportunity to thank the following manufactures for their valuable assistance: Ajac Electrothermic Corporation; Ecco High Frequency Corporation, Federal Telephone & Radio Corporation; Girdler Corporation; Induction Heating Corporation; Tocco Division; The Ohio Crankshaft Company; and Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. He thanks also Glen C. Riegel, of the Caterpillar Tractor Company, and Richard F. Harvey, of the Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company. Deep appreciation is also extended to the Induction Heating Corporation for its help in making available many case histories an laboratory analyses of inductionheating problems. Frank W. Curtis

CONTENTS

Preface to the second edition Preface to the first edition I. Principles of Induction Heating Diagrams of current paths Basic principles involved Relation of frequency Heating coils used Heating formula Effect of surface heating on metals Induction-heating Equipment Motor-generator sets Vacuum-tube oscillators Selection of equipment Diagram of circuits Miscellaneous units Spark-gap converters Design of Induction-heating Coils Single-turn and multi-turn coils Constructional design details Coil proportions Series-type coils Parallel inductors Miscellaneous coils Mounting of coils Built-up coil design Brazing, Soldering, and Joining Brazing with silver alloys Types of brazed joints Fixtures for production setups Continuous soldering operations Multiple setups Brazing carbide tools Miscellaneous seups

II.

III.

IV.