Preface to the First Edition

Throughout the years, many books and articles have been written about induction heat treating. In the author’s opinion, Induction Heat Treatment of Steel, Lee Semiatin and Dave Stutz, 1986, provides the best combination of induction heating and metallurgical theory to date.

There are many practical aspects that the books to date do not cover. The author’s company has the experience of processing more than 20,000 orders a year in commercial induction heat treating. This book is written to complete the tie-in of the metallurgy, theory, and practice of induction heat treating from a hands-on explanation of what floor people need to know. Explanations contain language and terms that need to be understood. Operating information and a progression from process analysis to standards and quality control are presented.

The early chapters, 1 through 7, provide explanations of theory to the detail that the author feels is needed in order to understand induction and the metallurgy of induction. Chapters 8 to 10 deal with production aspects of induction. Chapter 11 reviews and presents a process for analysis of applications, including selection of frequency, power requirements, and the selection of different types of fixturing to meet production requirements. Chapter 12 discusses standards and inspection for induction, while Chapter 13 deals with identification and resolution of problems found with induction hardened parts. The final chapters discuss quality control and maintenance.

The appendixes are meant to help more with design information and include some charts and data to help with production including tempering curves and hardenability curves. References are given for texts and authors to help those who desire a more detailed understanding of the theoretical aspects.

The author appreciates the help and material given by Bill Stuehr of Induction Tooling and the material furnished by Robert Ruffini of Fluxtrol and George Welch of Ajax Magnathermic.