PROFESSOR INDUCTION
by Valery I. Rudnev, FASM, Inductoheat Group
Systematic analysis of
Professor Induction welcomes
comments, questions, and
suggestions for future columns.
Since 1993, Dr. Rudnev has been
on the staff of Inductoheat Group,
where he currently serves as group
director – science and technology.
induction coil failures
In the past, he was an associate
professor at several universities. His expertise is in materials
PART 11a: FREQUENCY SELECTION
science, metallurgy, heat treating, applied electromagnetics, Entries in the “Systematic analysis of induction coil failures” series alternate
computer modeling, and process development. Dr. Rudnev with those in the new “Metallurgical insights for induction heat treaters”
is a member of the editorial boards of several journals, series, which made its debut in the May/June HTP.
including Microstructure and Materials Properties and
I
Materials and Product Technology. He has 28 years of t has been said, and too often nealing, normalizing, and heating
experience in induction heating. Credits include 16 patents quoted, that the only certainties in prior to hot and warm forming, for ex-
and 128 scientific and engineering publications. life are death and taxes. The user ample) is the topic of this column and
of induction heating could add a third: two others in the “Systematic analysis
Contact Dr. Rudnev at Inductoheat Group the certainty of being confused about of induction coil failures” series.
32251 North Avis Drive which frequency is best suited to a
Madison Heights, MI 48071 particular induction heating or in- Electromagnetic properties
tel: 248/629-5055; fax: 248/589-1062 duction heat treating application. Unlike fuel-fired and infrared fur-
e-mail: [email protected] Frequency selection not only affects naces, the performance of induction
Web: www.inductoheat.com the performance of the induction heaters first and foremost is affected
system but it also has a significant ef- by the electromagnetic properties of
fect on coil life. Choice of an improper the heated metal.1
frequency is the most common mis- Electromagnetic properties of ma-
take made by developers and users of terials encompass a variety of charac-
induction heating processes. teristics including magnetic perme-
Numerous factors affecting fre- ability, electrical resistivity (electrical
quency selection for surface (case) conductivity), saturation flux density,
hardening, tempering, and stress re- coercive force, hysteresis loss, permit-
lieving are discussed in Ref. 1. Fre- tivity, and many others.2 While rec-
quency selection and the detrimental ognizing the importance of all elec-
effect on coil life of choosing an im- tromagnetic properties, two of them
proper frequency for induction — electrical resistivity (electrical con-
through-heating applications (in- ductivity) and magnetic permeability
cluding through hardening, an- — have the most pronounced effect
400
Temperature Range
Relative coil copper loss, %
20-70°C
300
820-870°C
200
100
30 70 200
Frequency, kHz
Fig. 1 — Relative coil copper losses at initial heating stage (20 to 70°C [70 to 160°F]) compared
with those at the final heating stage (820 to 870°C [1510 to 1600°F]) while induction heating 0.25
in. (6.4 mm) in diameter titanium rod using a frequency of 70 kHz versus 30 and 200 kHz, as-
suming the same rise of average temperature per heat time. As the reference point, coil copper losses
at the initial heat stage using 70 kHz are assigned a value of 100%.
HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • JULY 2007 19
PROFESSOR INDUCTION continued
on the performance of an induction Table 1 — Examples of how electrical resistivity, U,
heating system, its efficiency,
longevity, and frequency selection. rises with temperature
Increase in Temperature range,
Resistivity (conductivity) Material electrical resistivity, x °C (°F)
The ability of a material to conduct Aluminum 3.2 21 —> 500 (70 —> 932)
an electric current is indicated by its Copper 4.7 21 —> 900 (70 —> 1652)
electrical conductivity, V.2 The recip-
Titanium 3.15 21 —> 885 (70 —> 1625)
rocal of conductivity is electrical re-
sistivity, U. The units for U and V are AISI 1045 steel 6.8 21 —> 1200 (70 —> 2192)
:·m and mho/m, respectively. Both Tungsten 10.6 21 —> 1800 (70 —> 3272)
characteristics can be used in engi-
neering practice; however, the ma- Electrical resistivity affects practi- water cooling isn’t sufficiently in-
jority of data books contain values for cally all of the important parameters creased, premature coil failure could
electrical resistivity. of an induction heating system, in- result due to copper overheating and
Electrical resistivity of a particular cluding depth of heating, coil elec- degradation.
metal varies with temperature, chem- trical efficiency, coil losses, and Eddy current cancellation and the
ical composition, microstructure, and water cooling requirements, among attendant dramatic reduction in coil
grain size. Metals considered to be low others. efficiency and increase in coil copper
resistivity include silver, copper, gold, losses are responsible for a phenom-
and aluminum, while high-resistivity Effect of frequency enon that sometimes puzzles induc-
metals include stainless steel, titanium, In the case of induction through- tion heating users: A coil can last
and carbon steel. For most metals, U heating of solid cylinders (rods, bars, longer when heating larger-diameter
rises with temperature. billets, and wires, for example), there parts, but fail prematurely when it’s
The resistivity of pure metals can will be higher coil efficiency when the used to heat small-diameter work-
often be represented as a linear func- applied frequency corresponds to this pieces. The power supply is the same
tion of the temperature (unless there ratio: in both cases.
is a change in the metal’s lattice struc- An example is given in Fig. 1 (blue
ture): (Workpiece diameter, D)/ bars), which shows the relative varia-
(Current penetration depth, G) > 4 tion of coil copper losses at the initial
U(T) = Uo[1 + D(T–To)] (Eq. 1) (Eq. 3) heating stage (20 to 70°C [70 to 160°F])
when induction heating 0.25 in. (6.4
where Uo is the resistivity at ambient In metric (SI) units, current pene- mm) in diameter titanium rod using
temperature, To; U(T) is the resistivity tration depth, G, can be calculated as: a frequency of 70 kHz versus 30 and
at temperature T; D is the temperature 200 kHz, assuming the same rise of
coefficient of the electrical resistivity G = 503(U/PrF)½ (Eq. 4a) average temperature per heat time. As
(in units of 1/°C). the reference point, coil copper losses
For some electrically conductive where U is the electrical resistivity of at 70 kHz are designated as 100%.
materials, electrical resistivity de- the metal, :·m; Pr is the relative mag-
creases with temperature and, there- netic permeability (1 for nonmagnetic Effect of temperature
fore, the value of D can be negative. materials); and F is the frequency, Hz As discussed, the electrical resis-
For other materials (including carbon (cycles per second). tivity, U, rises with temperature for
steels, alloy steels, and graphite, for most metals. This increase can be ap-
example) D is a nonlinear function of In English units, preciable resulting in the potential for
temperature due to a nonlinear func- a dangerous current cancellation at the
tion of U vs. temperature. G = 3160(U/PrF)½ (Eq. 4b) final heating stage.
Do not confuse electrical resistivity, Table 1 shows the increases in elec-
U (in :·m) with electrical resistance, R where electrical resistivity U is in :·in. trical resistivity for several metals for
(in :). The relationship between these If the ratio D/G is < 3, than coil elec- typical heat temperatures.
parameters can be expressed as: trical efficiency dramatically decreases It is imperative to take into account
due to the cancellation of induced an increase in electrical resistivity with
R = Ul/a (Eq. 2) eddy currents circulating in opposite temperature when selecting the most
sides of the heated workpiece.1 This suitable operating frequency. Unfor-
where l is the length of the current-car- reduction in coil efficiency causes a tunately, most data sources only have
rying conductor and a is the area of corresponding increase in coil copper information regarding the value of
the conductor’s cross section through losses and necessitates having appre- electrical resistivity at ambient tem-
which the current is flowing. ciably greater coil water-cooling. If perature. If the D/G ratio (Eq. 3) is
20 HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • JULY 2007
chosen based on the value of electrical depth at the end of heating (final References
resistivity at ambient temperature, heating stage). 1. Handbook of Induction Heating,
then the increase in electrical resistivity by V. Rudnev, D. Loveless, R. Cook,
with temperature could potentially Author comments and M. Black: Marcel Dekker Inc.,
New York, 2003, 800 p.
have a detrimental negative effect on The ability to independently change
2. Ferromagnetism, by Richard M.
coil efficiency and copper cooling re- the frequency and/or power of an in-
Bozorth: IEEE Press, New York, 1993
quirements. Underestimation of that duction heating system would en- (as a “Classic Reissue”), 968 p.
effect can result in overheating and a hance process flexibility, and has been
noticeable shortening of induction coil on the wish list of commercial induc-
life. tion heat treaters for some time. In-
Figure 1 also compares relative coil ductoheat’s Statitron IFP (Independent
copper losses at the initial heating control of Frequency and Power) in-
stage with those at the final heating verter does just that, allowing the in-
stage (820 to 870°C [1510 to 1600°F]) dependent changing of frequency
while induction heating titanium rod (over a 5 to 40 kHz range) and power
using three frequencies. (over a 10 to 75 kW range) in a single-
module system. Heat treaters can now
Conclusions drawn program power and/or frequency
• Premature coil failure that results changes on the fly, which greatly ex-
from unexpected excessive coil losses pands equipment capabilities for pro-
can be avoided by selecting an oper- cessing parts, maximizing heating ef-
ating frequency that avoids eddy cur- ficiency while treating different part
rent cancellation. sizes and/or optimizing the perfor-
• To ensure high heating efficiency mance of both hardening and tem-
and long coil life, frequency should be pering while using the same
chosen based on current penetration power supply.
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Case Western Reserve University
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HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • JULY 2007 21
