Anneal an oval cut-out on a stainless steel tube prior to extrusion

Objective

To anneal a ¼” area around an oval cutout on a stainless steel tube prior to extrusion 

End Product

tube

Equipment

• Ambrell 10kW induction heating system, equipped with a remote workhead containing one 1.0µF capacitor.

• An induction heating coil designed and developed specifically for this application

Materials

.75” (19mm), 1.5” (38.1mm) and 4” (101.6mm) diameter steel tubes

Temperature

1900 ºF (1038 ºC)

Frequency

300 kHz

Testing

A single turn helical coil is used on the 4” (101.6mm) diameter tubes and a two turn helical coil is used on the smaller diameters. The coil is placed over the oval cutout and power is supplied for 15 seconds to anneal a .25 (6.35mm) diameter around the cutout. 

Benefits

Induction heating provides:

• Precise and controllable placement of heat to anneal only the required area

• Faster process than flame

• Repeatable results

• Hands-free heating that involves no operator skill for manufacturing 

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