Scanning Hardening of a Splined Shaft

Shafts, steering racks, worm gears and other long or extended mechanical parts are being widely used in automotive, aerospace and many other industries in different mechanical assemblies.

To manufacture these parts, they need to be hardened to improve hardness and wear resistance, and to increase fatigue life. The best way to harden such parts is through induction hardening. It provides selective hardening, which increases system efficiency and decreases the thermal distortions of the part.

In this article we are going to learn how to build a simple splined shaft scanning hardening process using CENOS Induction Heating simulation software.

1. Prepare your geometry

Geometry is the beginning and a cornerstone of every simulation, so we need to start by preparing our geometry for the simulation.

1.1 Import CAD files

First we need to select the geometry creation approach. In CENOS home window click Import CAD.

Click the blinking Folder icon to select the CAD files you want to import.

Select STEP files of your system and click Open to import them into CENOS.

 

1.2 Generate air box

Once the CAD files are uploaded, CENOS will ask if you want to automatically generate the air box (ambient environment around your system). Click Yes on the choice, and then CONTINUE.

Select your inductor terminals for reference, and click CREATE AIR to automatically generate the air box!

1.3 Define groups

Once the air box is generated, you will be redirected to group creation window. Here you will see a list of groups you need to define for your system, such as which one is workpiece, where are inductor terminals etc. You will see that most roles have been automatically assigned.

Select the group (in this example, Workpiece), select the corresponding volume from the list or directly from the screen, and click ASSIGN Workpiece.

In the same way define Workpiece surface. Here you can sort by Workpiece 1 solid and select all faces.

 

 

2. Define physics

You will be redirected to the Physics window, where physical definitions are present. On the left you can see the preview window of your geometry, but on the right – the actual physical definitions. You can navigate physics through the domain tabs above the physical definitions.

2.1 Simulation control

In the SIMULATION CONTROL window define the simulation as transient with 4 kHz frequency, 12 s End time and 1 s time step.

 

2.2 Splined shaft

Select WORKPIECE1 from Domain bar. For Material click SELECT… and choose Low carbon steel 1020 (B(H), to depend).

Under THERMAL ANALYSIS for WORKPIECE SURFACE1 choose Combined – check the Convection and Radiation boxes and enter 15 for Convection and 0.8 for Radiation.

2.3 Inductor

Switch to INDUCTOR in Domain bar. The Material will be automatically assigned as Copper (to depend.).

 

Under ELECTROMAGNETICS choose Current for TERMINAL1, Ground for TERMINAL2 and enter 9000 A as Current.

2.4 Scanning

Switch to MOTION tab and click CREATE NEW MOTION.

Check Complex motion as motion type, Inductor as the domain you want to move, and enter movement speed of 0.01 m/s in Y direction.

With the Motion definition you have finished the physics setup! Click RUN to calculate your simulation!

 

3. Evaluate results

In the end of the calculation our post-processing results viewer will automatically open with a pre-set temperature state, and you will be able to see the temperature field distribution in the workpiece in the last time step.

Results can be further manipulated by using filters – you can find more about it here.

This concludes our Splined Shaft Scanning Hardening tutorial. For any recommendations or questions contact our support.