Theoretical and experimental analysis of two-pass spot continual induction hardening of AISI 1045 steel

In order to investigate the tempering effect during the two-pass spot continual induction hardening (TP-SCIH) process, a finite element simulation model was built and the experimental device for validating the predicted results was set up. The tempering effect was considered with the aim of investigating the effect of the overlapped widths between adjacent tracks (OWAT) on the microstructure and micro-hardness of tempering region in TP-SCIH process. The simulated temperature, microstructure and micro-hardness results were validated by experimental tests. The uniformity of micro-hardness distribution on surface was highly influenced by the overlapped width according to the experimental and simulated results, which was due to the tempering temperature and time of overlapped zone.