Stress and Distortion Evolution During Induction Case Hardening of Tube

Simulation of stresses during heat treatment relates usually to furnace heating. Induction heating provides a very different evolution of temperature in the part and therefore different stresses. This may be positive for service properties or negative, reducing component strength or even causing cracks. A method of coupled simulation between electromagnetic, thermal, structural, stress, and deformation phenomena during induction tube hardening is described. Commercial software package ELTA is used to calculate the power density distribution in the load resulting from the induction heating process. The program DANTE is used to predict temperature distribution, phase transformations, stress state, and deformation during heating and quenching. Analyses of stress and deformation evolution were made on a simple case of induction hardening of external (1st case) and internal (2nd case) surfaces of a thick-walled tubular body.