Induction heating is an accurate, fast, repeatable, efficient, non-contact technique for heating metals or any other electrically-conductive materials.
An induction heating system consists of an induction power supply for converting line power to an alternating current and delivering it to a workhead, and a work coil for generating an electromagnetic field within the coil. The work piece is positioned in the coil such that this field induces a current in the work piece, which in turn produces heat.
The water-cooled coil is positioned around or bordering the work piece. It does not contact the work piece, and the heat is only produced by the induced current transmitted through the work piece. The material used to make the work piece can be a metal such as copper, aluminum, steel, or brass. It can also be a semiconductor such as graphite, carbon or silicon carbide.
For heating non-conductive materials such as plastics or glass, induction can be used to heat an electrically-conductive susceptor e.g., graphite, which then passes the heat to the non-conducting material.
Induction heating finds applications in processes where temperatures are as low as 100oC (212°F) and as high as 3000°C (5432°F). It is also used in short heating processes lasting for less than half a second and in heating processes that extend over several months.
Induction heating is used both domestic and commercial cooking, in several applications such as heat treating, soldering, preheating for welding, melting, shrink fitting in industry, sealing, brazing, curing, and in research and development.
