Optimizing part design for lean manufacturing
IHTS’s patent pending Dual Austenitize Temperature (DAT®) staged heating methods apply a uniform heating of the entire part mass, to every profile of the part, whether it is symmetrical or not, so the entire surface attains the threshold Austenitizing temperature. In the second stage of DAT heating, the surfaces that require maximum case hardness are heated to slightly above the Austenitizing completion temperature. When DAT Heating is combined with IHTS’s patent pending High Pressure Instant-Impact Quench (HPIQ®) process, the surface is case hardened and the core remains ductile.
The combination of DAT heating and HPIQ keeps a thin part core from hardening all the way through during the instant-impact quench, something that earlier equipment could not do. And, at the same time, DAT+HPIQ can yield the maximum surface hardness for a given alloy system; even a “carbide-like” hardness where it is needed while maintaining a ductile core.
