Automotive production is the industry where Fluxtrol’s induction hardening work is best documented. Axles, crankshafts, wheel hubs and camshafts all rely on surface or case hardening, and each has a library paper or case history behind it. Fluxtrol’s legacy company text lists automotive first among the industries where its solutions are used, and says it serves companies such as GM and GKN.
Induction hardening of drivetrain and chassis parts
Fluxtrol’s technical library covers the classic automotive hardening jobs:
- Axles. Papers on optimizing axle scan-hardening inductors , frequency control for axle scan hardening , and stress and distortion modeling of truck axles.
- Crankshafts. Optimizing performance of crankshaft hardening inductors notes that the crankshaft was the first industrially induction hardened part, and that crankshaft coil design had not advanced much since the 1960s.
- Wheel hubs. A 3D simulation study of a coil lifetime problem.
What flux control changes
Fluxtrol’s case histories compare coils with and without SMC concentrators on the same hardening jobs. On a camshaft coil, adding Fluxtrol A cut cycle time 26% and power 30%, with no back tempering of the adjacent lobe. An S-cam coil saw a 46% cycle time reduction, and a geared tractor hub 42%. These are customer-specific results, not guarantees. See all case studies and the metal hardening page.
A Fluxtrol customer testimonial from a process engineer at TRW Canada Ltd. says the concentrators “helped us lower our induction heating costs, but also improved our part quality” in suspension component manufacturing.
Forging and lightweighting
Research with university partners addresses hot forging and hot hydroforging of steel-aluminum bimaterial billets, including hot hydroforging for lightweighting for lightweight powertrain parts. See forging and forming .
Sheet steel
Induction heating of advanced high-strength steel sheet for automotive applications is covered under steel processing .
Work with Fluxtrol
Contact us about a hardening coil, or order SMCs directly.
Automotive case histories
Camshaft static hardening coil
A camshaft hardening coil with no concentrator had unsatisfactory cycle times and back tempering of the adjacent lobe. Adding Fluxtrol A was the only change.
- Cycle time reduced 26%
- Power reduced 30%
- No back tempering of adjacent lobes
Wheel hub with a single bearing race
Silicon steel laminations were failing the copper of a wheel hub case-hardening coil. Fluxtrol A, then a simulation-optimized design using Fluxtrol 50, extended coil life.
- Coil life extended to more than 150,000 cycles
- Optimized by computer simulation