GH Induction specializes in induction heat treatments. We manufacture our machines, ensuring the technology and quality you trust.
Heat treatment is a set of controlled heating and cooling operations applied to materials, usually metals and alloys, in a solid state.
The main objective is to alter their mechanical properties, such as hardness, strength, ductility, and toughness, without changing their shape. These modifications are achieved through changes in the microstructure of the material.
It is a fundamental process in various industries, from automotive and aerospace to tools and construction, ensuring that components have the performance and durability required for their applications.
Induction Heat Treatment Processes
Induction is an efficient and precise heating technology widely used in heat treatments. It allows rapid heating of only the desired area of the workpiece, accurately controlling the temperature and cycle time.
This results in greater energy efficiency, less distortion of the workpiece, and easier automation. Among the main induction heat treatment processes are hardening, tempering, annealing, and normalizing.
Although they are all heat treatment processes, hardening, tempering, annealing, and normalizing have different objectives, temperatures, and cooling rates, resulting in very different final properties in the material.
Hardening is a process of heating followed by rapid cooling, aimed at increasing the hardness and strength of the material. A common example is the use of an induction hardening machine to harden the surface of parts such as shafts.
Tempering usually follows hardening. It reduces the brittleness of the hardened material, increasing its toughness and ductility through reheating at a lower temperature and slow cooling.
Annealing involves heating to a high temperature, holding, and very slow cooling (usually in a furnace). Its purpose is to relieve stresses, reduce hardness, increase ductility, and improve the machinability of the material.
Normalizing is similar to annealing in terms of heating, but cooling is done in air. It seeks to refine the grain structure, uniform the microstructure, and improve the mechanical properties, such as strength and toughness, of formed materials.
In summary, hardening maximizes hardness, tempering softens, annealing softens for machining, and normalizing refines the structure to improve uniformity and properties. The choice depends on the properties desired for the application.
