Glossary of Induction Heating Terms

A boule is a single-crystal ingot produced by synthetic means. A boule of silicon is the starting material for most of the integrated circuits used today.

A phenomenon associated with surface tension and resulting in the elevation or depression of liquids in capillaries.

A hard material made of compacted binary compounds of carbon and heavy metals, used to make tools that cut metal.

Process of treating, combining, or impregnating with carbon, as when case-hardening steel.

A gas or mixture of gases in which steel is heated to produce or maintain a specific surface condition.

Transfer of energy from one circuit to another.

The temperature above which a ferromagnetic substance loses its ferromagnetism.

To prepare, preserve, or finish (a substance) by a chemical or physical process.

The dew point or dewpoint of a given parcel of air is the temperature to which the parcel must be cooled, at constant barometric pressure, for the water vapor component to condense into water, called dew.

Electric current circulating wholly within a mass of metal.

The pattern of heat transferred to the workpiece from heating portions of the work coil. The heating pattern is the mirror image of the coil.

Lagging of an effect behind its cause, as when the change in magnetism of a body lags behind changes in the magnetic field.

The ability of the heating system to induce voltage via a varying current and magnetic field.

A current flowing in a conductor creates a magnetic field. The field generates a current in the workpiece that’s a mirror image of the current in the work coil. The current in the workpiece is proportional to the field strength.

A frequency in the range within which radio waves may be transmitted, from about 3 kilohertz to about 300,000 megahertz.

To cool (hot metal) by thrusting into water or other liquid.

A material which is heated as a result of its presence in the induction field, then passes its heat to the workpiece.

To harden or strengthen (metal or glass) by application of heat or by heating and cooling.