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Applications for Induction Heating

Induction heating is used for an ever-widening range of industrial and scientific applications: material joining processes such as brazing, soldering and curing; material processing applications including hardening, forging, annealing and melting; and component assembly applications such as epoxy bonding and heat staking metal into plastic. Our engineers have also applied the technology for catheter tipping, hot heading and other component manufacturing processes.

In our Applications Laboratory, we are always evaluating new uses for induction heating by evaluating part samples and analyzing process requirements submitted by our customers.

Annealing
Annealing and tempering are used to soften metal for improved ductility and machinability, as well as to relieve residual stress. In contrast to hardening, annealing involves a much slower heating step followed by gradual cooling of the metal. Tempering refers to a reheating and slow cooling of metal which has become too brittle as a result of a hardening process.

Bonding
Flexible, epoxy-based gaskets can be bonded to metal or other conductive material without a third bonding agent. Our Epoxy Bonding Systems are ideal for this application. Induction heating has been used for bonding gaskets to metal automotive parts, thermoplastic composite bonding, and rubber washer/bumper assemblies.

Brazing
Brazing is the process of joining two or more pieces of metal or ceramic material with a molten filler metal such as silver, aluminum alloy or copper. Brazing requires a higher temperature than soldering but produces a very strong bond which withstands shock, vibration and temperature change. Brazing in a controlled vacuum or in an inert protective atmosphere can significantly improve overall part quality and eliminate costly part cleaning procedures. Please visit The Brazing Guide section of our website for indepth information about brazing processes, materials, filler metals and equipment.

Forging and Hot Forming


Industrial forging and hot forming processes involve bending or shaping a metal billet or bloom after it has been heated to a temperature at which its resistance to deformation is weak. Blocks of non-ferrous materials can also be used.

Fusing Nickel-Based Alloys to Steel


This application involves heating a steel boiler tube assembly to fuse a nickel-based, hard-surfacing alloy which has been applied as a spray. The tube is coated with the alloy to provide corrosion resistance during use; wear-resistant nickel alloys are applied to new parts where wear or corrosion is anticipated, or to worn parts to replace metal lost through wear.

Hardening Steel
Steel hardening consists of heating the material to a temperature over 723C (austenitic temperature) and then cooling the steel quickly, often with a quench of industrial water. The aim is to transform the structure of the steek in order to increase its hardness, its yield strength, and its breaking tension. The steels that are normally hardened with induction heating contain from 0.3% to 0.7% carbon.

Heat Staking
When one piece of metal is designed to be inserted into a second piece, induction heating can be used to "shrink fit" the two pieces together. The first or larger piece containing the opening is heated to expand the size of the hole. The second piece is then inserted into the opening, and as the first piece cools and shrinks back to its original size, the resulting pressure holds the two pieces together in a strong bond.

Heat Setting
This medical application involves heating nitinol stents to set proper size. The stents are slid over a correctly-sized mandrel, to which induction heating is then applied. Precise temperature control is required for this process.

Melting
Hard metals can be melted with an induction heating furnace. The metal is placed on a non-conductive crucible; when induction heating power is applied, the eddy currents circulating within the metal effectively stir the molten mass as it melts. Very high quality, uniform melting can be achieved with precious metals, high quality steels and nonferrous alloys.

Pre-Tinning
Induction heating can be used to quickly pre-tin solder paste in a copper electrical connector. With the right combination of induction coil and temperature, the solder paste can be melted within 10 seconds.

Soldering/Desoldering
Induction soldering is similar to induction brazing, but soldering is done at a lower temperature and the bond strength is not quite as high. One unusual application involves desoldering and removing a stainless steel lid which had previously been soldered to a stainless steel box.

Susceptor Heating
A susceptor is a conductive metal material that is used to transfer heat to another piece of metal or non-conductive material. Susceptors are often made from graphite because it is highly resistive and very machinable, or alternatively from stainless steel, aluminum, or other materials.

Pre-Heating for Welding


Induction heating can be used very effectively to preheat conductive materials for forging, welding, hot forming and hot heading. For example, the tips of turbine engine blades can be placed in a specially designed induction coil and heated to the desired temperature for

welding repairs. The induction preheating step improves cycle time and reduces stress on the rest of the blade.

Flash-Butt Welding
When two(2) wires which are charged with electricity, are made to contact with each other, they crackled with sparks. The flash-butt welding is a welding method which harnesses this heat of which sparks generate, to melt and to weld metals. The potential between two(2) poles of transformer is 12 volts and the current is about 1,000 amperes. The touched faces which should be welded, are melted in a moment with this electricty which has higher current with lower voltage. The touched faces are touched and untouched untill all parts of touched faces should be melted uniformly. Then welded parts are pressed and a pressure welding should be done with large pressure (12 kg/mm2).

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Flash Butt Welding

The surfaces of the workpieces are positioned end-to-end. As a rule, flash-butt welding is subdivided into preheating, flashing and upsetting. Preheating is carried out under low welding pressure. Once the welding joint is heated, flashing commences and joint surface material is burnt off, resulting in even joint surface. After arriving at preset flashing loss, upsetting commences, resulting in an irregular "fin" on the surface of the upset metal consisting of molten and oxidized material. Examples of flash-butt weldable items: rod stock, chains, rails and pipes.

Tips for common applications on band saw blades


By Thomas L. Fahringer It has been said that resistance welding is a function of current, pressure, and time. As it is true in other forms of resistance welding, it is also true in the flash-butt welding of band saw blades. Gases or coatings are not used to shield the weld area as they are in gas metal arc welding (GMAW) and gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), and no filler material is added during welding. Rather, the ends of the blades or strips are butted together, heated until they are molten, and then pushed together forcefully to form a welded joint. This is called resistance butt welding, and there are two different types - - butt welding and flash-butt welding.

Butt Welding
All blade welding machines using resistance welding have two sides into which the blade is clamped - - a fixed and electrically insulated side, which is generally the left side, and a movable and electrically grounded side, which is generally the right side. Once the ends of the blade are butted together and firmly clamped, pressure, which can be air, spring, or hydraulic, is applied immediately. When the start button is pushed, current begins to flow across the blade ends, causing them to heat up and become molten. The applied pressure forces the ends of the blades together as soon as they

become plastic and then molten, destroying the molten region at each blade end nearly as fast as it is created. This traps impurities in the weld making the weld brittle and weak. Flash welding addresses this problem by allowing the material to stay molten for a much longer period of time before forging.

Flash Welding
Not only is the flash-butt welding process different from butt welding, but so are the machines used. Flash-butt welding is not a new process. This author owns one of the first 20 flash welding machines built by Ryals and Stone in the 1920s. It is a flash welding machine but has no motor-driven cam, and the movable carriage must be advanced by pushing it with a long bar that is positioned on a pivot. Operating this machine required great skill and nerves of steel. The operator could not flinch when the arc was struck, and had to gauge the rate of burnoff at the blade ends by observing how much metal was being blown away, how yellow or white (cold or hot) the sparks seemed to be, and the loudness and regularity of the arc. The addition of the motor-driven cam to these welding machines removed the human judgment factor needed for operating previous flash-butt welding equipment. Controlling the advancement rate of the right-hand carriage allowed current to flow at a constant rate. This created wide molten regions at each blade tip, allowing the impurities to float, sink, or get squeezed out of the weld during forging. Without a motor-driven cam, advancing the righthand carriage at an even rate was almost impossible, and the flashing was quite irregular. Because the strength of the weld depends on an uninterrupted flow of current, the addition of the motor-driven cam was a significant change that greatly increased the percentage of good welds. Spring pressure application is another difference between flash and butt welding. With butt welding, spring pressure is applied before current begins to flow, destroying the molten zones as they are formed. In flash welding, spring pressure is applied at the end of the weld cycle, after the flowing current has had time to heat up the blade ends. The net effect of this extra time in the molten state is a metallurgically strong weld that is relatively free of harmful impurities. After learning the basic dynamics of flash welding, and why it is important to have wide molten regions at the blade ends during welding, some other factors must be understood that cause the molten zones to be too small or too cold. Most of these factors are operator-controlled. However, the ones that are not operator-controlled are some of the most common causes of weak and brittle welds.

Inadequate Wiring and Fusing


When the weld start button is pushed on a flash welding machine, an instantaneous current spike occurs. Adequate fusing and wiring is essential to accommodate this spike. If the amperage rating of the circuit breaker or the size of the wire running from that breaker to the welding equipment is insufficient, the current spike may be cut off and limited, resulting in cold welds. Machine operators should consult the operator's manual or call the manufacturer to learn the proper wire sizes and circuit breaker amperage rating for the equipment they are using.

Weak Circuit Breaker


A weak circuit breaker is not a common cause of bad welds, and, when it does occur, it often goes unnoticed. A failing circuit breaker can rob the weld of current flow and cause bad welds. This failure is hard to detect because it is common practice to use a voltmeter to determine if the circuit breaker is operating properly. Unfortunately, the voltmeter will not reveal a breaker that cannot carry the required amperage load. Operators should consult the equipment manufacturer to determine the amperage characteristics of their machines. A qualified electrician should then be able to determine whether or not the circuit breaker is causing a current flow problem.

Insufficient Power
While it is not a frequent cause of bad welds, insufficient incoming power is a problem that may exist. Before a flash welding machine can be used effectively, an adequate power supply that provides uninterrupted current and voltage must be established. The operator should consult the machine's manual or contact the manufacturer to discuss all aspects of this requirement. Insufficient power can cause hesitation in the flashing. In this case, the operator will hear the flashing cycle begin, stop for a fraction of a second, and then start again. If this happens, the primary power (line side) may be insufficient.

The Dreaded R-Factors


In all types of resistance welding, one of the biggest - if not the biggest - enemy of adequate current flow is a point of resistance to that flow somewhere in the electrical circuit. In the average welding machine, there may be many points of resistance, each of which is referred to as an R-factor. It is important for welding machine operators and owners to find and eliminate as many R-factors as possible. Allowing R-factors limits the flow of current to the blade ends. When the volume of current is diminished sufficiently, cold and brittle welds always will result. Examples of R-factors are pitted jaws, dirty jaws, poor clamping pressure, jaws that are not flat, worn or pitted switch contacts, and loose electrical connections. Pitted Jaws As the machine is used on a regular basis, pieces of flashing, as well as dirt and grit on the band saw blade create holes in the clamping surfaces, causing a condition known as pitting. Obviously, these holes do not conduct electrical current and eventually will accumulate to a point that will affect weld quality. At this point, the jaws should be removed and reground or simply replaced. Dirty Jaws

Dirty jaws are as dangerous as pitted jaws because current flow is diminished as it tries to pass through a dirty surface. Jaws should be cleaned periodically to prevent this resistive buildup and to maintain weld quality. Uneven Clamping Pressure Another source of resistance to current flow is poor or uneven clamping pressure. Current flows most readily through areas where clamping pressure is the greatest and flows the least where clamping pressure is diminished. Therefore, if clamping pressure is uneven, the weld will be hot at one point and cold at another, often causing sinks at the tooth edge or at the back edge of the weld. It is important to check periodically that clamping pressure is flat and even over the entire area of the clamping surfaces. A simple check is to place a piece of carbon paper face down on a white sheet of paper and insert and clamp them in the machine as would be done to clamp a blade. Examining the paper will reveal areas of strongest and weakest clamping. Any differences should be adjusted immediately. Jaws That Are Not Flat Clamping surfaces should be flat and parallel within a tolerance no greater than 0.001 inch. An out-of-flat condition greater than this will cause uneven clamping pressure and bad welds. Jaws should never be sanded or filed but should always be surface-ground to ensure the required flatness. Worn or Pitted Switch Contacts Switch contacts that are pitted or worn can restrict current flow and cause cold welds. Regular maintenance includes checking all contacts in the welding machine and replacing or refurbishing them as necessary. Loose Electrical Connections Loose electrical connections resist the flow of electrical current and must be tightened. Soldering should be performed whenever possible to provide an electrical connection that will not come loose. Crimped connectors on a solid wire are a very common cause of cold welds. Because the wire tends to straighten out in use, these connections commonly work themselves loose over time. A single severely loose or several mildly loose connections single-handedly can cause weak and brittle welds. If the machine is producing welds that break, loose electrical connections may be a contributing factor.

Annealing
After the weld is made, it is in a very brittle state and must be reheated at a low temperature to relieve the internal stresses caused by the welding process. The methodology for annealing blades varies greatly from blade manufacturer to blade manufacturer. Some blade makers recommend annealing the band once, letting it cool, and annealing it again, while others believe annealing twice is unnecessary. Some recommend that the operator anneal the blade very hot in the beginning and slowly taper it to nothing. Still others suggest bringing the temperature up slowly, holding it for a designated period of time, and slowly bringing it back down. This author has tried to compile a typical methodology for annealing from all of the companies visited through the years. The best advice for annealing most of the band saw blades in the marketplace today is to bring the anneal heat up to the desired temperature or redness, hold it at that temperature for a certain length of time (usually around 2-5 seconds), then shut the heat off and let the blade cool naturally. The actual temperature at which most annealing takes place varies from blade to blade, but the average is from approximately 1,050 to 1,275 degrees Fahrenheit. If a welding machine is not equipped with an optical pyrometer and a temperature readout, the operator can bring the temperature up slowly until redness is just visible and then begin to taper the temperature down until it is no longer visible. The manufacturers of the band saw blades can provide recommended annealing temperatures and practices for their blades. Some of the newer blades have a high degree of silicon and may require hotter temperatures during annealing. While the annealing is taking place, the operator should observe how the anneal pattern travels across the blade. The heat given off during annealing causes the band to change color for a small distance on each side of the weld. The width of the heat-affected zone generally is just smaller than the width of the jaws during annealing, and it should be parallel to the weld area from the tooth edge to the back edge. If it is not parallel to the weld on both sides of the weld, there is a current flow problem that must be corrected. Uneven clamping could be causing this problem, and immediate action should be taken to correct it.

Conclusion
Thanks to equipment improvements through the years, flash-butt welding today is an international business. While there are different methods of welding band saw blade material, such as overlap brazing, GMAW, and electron beam welding, end-to-end coil joining still is accomplished most efficiently by the flash-butt method. As with any piece of mechanical equipment, flash welding machines require ongoing maintenance and attention to keep them in peak welding condition. Armed with an understanding of the function of a flash welding machine and an in-depth, ongoing maintenance program, these machines can become valuable welding tools.

Spot welding
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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A spot welder

A spot welding robot

Spot welding (RSW)[1] is a process in which contacting metal surfaces are joined by the heat obtained from resistance to electric current flow. Work-pieces are held together under pressure exerted by electrodes. Typically the sheets are in the 0.5 to 3 mm (0.020 to 0.12 in) thickness range. The process uses two shapedcopper alloy electrodes to concentrate welding current into a small "spot" and to simultaneously clamp the sheets together. Forcing a large current through the spot will melt the metal and form the weld. The attractive feature of spot welding is a lot of energy can be delivered to the spot in a very short time (approximately ten milliseconds).[2] That permits the welding to occur without excessive heating to the rest of the sheet. The amount of heat (energy) delivered to the spot is determined by the resistance between the electrodes and the amperage and duration of the current.[3] The amount of energy is chosen to match the sheet's material properties, its thickness, and type of electrodes. Applying too little energy won't melt the metal or will make a poor weld. Applying too much energy will melt too much metal, eject molten material, and make a hole rather

than a weld.[4] Another attractive feature of spot welding is the energy delivered to the spot can be controlled to produce reliable welds. Projection welding is a modification of spot welding. In this process the weld is localized by means of raised sections, or projections, on one or both of the workpieces to be joined. Heat is concentrated at the projections, which permits the welding of heavier sections or the closer spacing of welds. The projections can also serve as a means of positioning the workpieces. Projection welding is often used to weld studs, nuts, and other screw machine parts to metal plate. It's also frequently used to join crossed wires and bars. This is another highproduction process, and multiple projection welds can be arranged by suitable designing and jigging. [5]
Contents
[hide]

1 Applications 2 Processing and Equipment 3 Tool Styles 4 Effects 5 Electrical notes 6 Physics

o o
7 Safety

6.1 Clamping 6.2 Fields

8 Alternatives 9 See also 10 References

[edit]Applications

Spot welding is typically used when welding particular types of sheet metal. Thicker stock is more difficult to spot weld because the heat flows into the surrounding metal more easily. Spot welding can be easily identified on many sheet metal goods, such as metal buckets. Aluminum alloys can be spot welded, but their much higher thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity requires higher welding currents. This requires larger, more powerful, and more expensive welding transformers. Perhaps the most common application of spot welding is in the automobile manufacturing industry, where it is used almost universally to weld the sheet metal to form a car. Spot welders can also becompletely automated, and many of the industrial robots found on assembly lines are spot welders (the other major use for robots being painting).

Spot welding is also used is in the orthodontist's clinic, where small scale spot welding equipment is used when resizing metal "molar bands" used in orthodontics. Another application is spot welding straps to nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal-hydride cells in order to make batteries. The cells are joined by spot welding thin nickel straps to the battery terminals. Spot welding can keep the battery from getting too hot, as might happen if conventional soldering were done. Good design practice must always allow for adequate accessibility. Connecting surfaces should be free of contaminants, such as scale, oil, and dirt, for quality welds. Metal thickness is generally not a factor in determining good welds.
[edit]Processing

and Equipment

Spot welding involves three stages; the first of which involves the electrodes being brought to the surface of the metal and applying a slight amount of pressure. The current from the electrodes is then applied briefly after which the current is removed but the electrodes remain in place in order for the material to cool. Weld times range from 0.01 sec to 0.63 sec depending on the thickness of the metal, the electrode force and the diameter of the electrodes themselves. The equipment used in the spot welding process consists of tool holders and electrodes. The tool holders function as a mechanism to hold the electrodes firmly in place and also support optional water hoses which cool the electrodes during welding. Tool holding methods include a paddle-type, light duty, universal, and regular offset. The electrodes generally are made of a low resistance alloy, usually copper, and are designed in many different shapes and sizes depending on the application needed. The two materials being welded together are known as the workpieces and must conduct electricity. The width of the workpieces is limited by the throat length of the welding apparatus and ranges typically from 5 to 50 inches. Workpiece thickness can range from 0.008in. to 1.25in.[6] After the current is removed from the workpiece, it is cooled via the coolant holes in the center of the electrodes. Both water and a brine solution may be used as coolants in spot welding mechanisms.
[edit]Tool

Styles

Electrodes used in spot welding can vary greatly with different applications. Each tool style has a different purpose. Radius style electrodes are used for high heat applications, electrodes with a truncated tip for high pressure, eccentric electrodes for welding corners, offset eccentric tips for reaching into corners and small spaces, and finally offset truncated for reaching into the workpiece itself.
[edit]Effects

The spot welding process tends to harden the material, cause it to warp, reduce the material's fatigue strength, and may stretch the material as well as anneal it. The physical effects of spot welding include internal cracking, surface cracks and a bad appearance. The chemical properties affected include the metal's internal resistance and its corrosive properties.
[edit]Electrical

notes

The basic spot welder consists of a power supply, an energy storage unit (e.g., a capacitor bank), a switch, a welding transformer, and the welding electrodes. The energy storage element allows the welder to deliver high instantaneous power levels. If the power demands are not high, then the energy storage element isn't needed. The switch causes the stored energy to be dumped into the welding transformer. The welding transformer steps down the voltage and steps up the current. An important feature of the transformer is it reduces the current level that the switch must handle. The welding electrodes are part of the transformer's secondary circuit. There is also a control box that manages the switch and may monitor the welding electrode voltage or current. The resistance presented to the welder is complicated.[7] There is the resistance of secondary winding, the cables, and the welding electrodes. There is also the contact resistance between the welding electrodes and the workpiece. There is the resistance of the workpieces, and the contact resistance between the workpieces. At the beginning of the weld, the contact resistances are usually high, so most of the initial energy will be dissipated there. That heat and the clamping force will soften and smooth out the material at the electrodematerial interface and make better contact (that is, lower the contact resistance). Consequently, more electrical energy will go into the workpiece and the junction resistance of the two workpieces. As electrical energy is delivered to the weld and causes the temperature to rise, the electrodes and the workpiece are conducting that heat away. The goal is to apply enough energy so that a portion of material within the spot melts without having the entire spot melt. The perimeter of the spot will conduct away a lot of heat and keep the perimeter at a lower temperature. The interior of the spot has less heat conducted away, so it melts first. If the welding current is applied too long, the entire spot melts, the material runs out or otherwise fails, and the "weld" becomes a hole. The voltage needed for welding depends on the resistance of the material to be welded, the sheet thickness and desired size of the nugget. When welding a common combination like 1.0 + 1.0 mm sheet steel, the voltage between the electrodes is only about 1.5 V at the start of the weld but can fall as low as 1 V at the end of the weld. This decrease in voltage results from the reduction in resistance caused by the workpiece melting. The open circuit voltage from the transformer is higher than this, typically in the 5 to 22 volt range. [8] The resistance of the weld spot changes as it flows and liquefies. Modern welding equipment can monitor and adjust the weld in real-time to ensure a consistent weld. The equipment may seek to control different variables during the weld, such as current, voltage, power, or energy.

A spot welding machine normally consists of tool and electrodes, which are mechanisms for making and holding contact at the weld. Tool holders have two functions: to hold the electrode firmly in place and to support water hoses that provide cooling of the electrodes. Welder sizes range from 5 to 500 kVA.[9] Micro spot welders, used in a variety of industries, can go down to 1.5 kVA or less for precision welding needs.
[edit]Physics

[edit]Clamping

Welding times are often very short, and that can cause problems with the electrodesthey cannot move fast enough to keep the material clamped. Welding controllers will use a double pulse to get around this problem. During the first pulse, the electrode contact may not be able to make a good weld. The first pulse will soften the metal. During the pause between the two pulses, the electrodes will come closer and make better contact.
[edit]Fields

During spot welding, the large electric current induces a large magnetic field, and the electric current and magnetic field interact with each other to produce a large magnetic force field too, which drives the melted metal to move very fast at a velocity up to 500 mm/s. As such, the heat energy distribution in spot welding could be dramatically changed by the fast motion of the melted metal.[10] The fast motion in spot welding can be observed with high speed photography.[11]
[edit]Safety

It is common for a spray of molten metal droplets (sparks) to be ejected from the area of the weld during the process. While spot welding does not generate UV light as intensely as arc welding, eye protection is still required. Welding goggles with a 5.0 shade are recommended.[12]

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