Method for heat-treating metal materials
AssigneeBattelle Memorial Institute
InventorsAashish Rohatgi, Saumyadeep Jana
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Abstract
A method for heat treating metal materials by passing electrical current through a metallic workpiece to heat the workpiece via Joule heating to a preselected temperature for a preselected period of time, based upon the formula I2×R×t, wherein I is current, R is resistance and t is time. The current may be a direct or an alternating one. Various configurations of the method are envisioned wherein multiple current inputs and outputs are attached to the metal material so as to selectively heat specific portions of the piece including irregular shapes and differing diameters.
Claims10
A method for electrically heat treating an aluminum 319 alloy workpiece comprising the step of:
- pulsing electrical current directly through the workpiece using at least one current input to heat the workpiece via resistive heating to a temperature less than 450 degrees C. for no more than 1 hour, then aging the piece to produce a hardened material having a harness of at least 50 on the RB scale.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.