A Numerical Analysis of Eddy-Current Electromagnetic Field for the In-Process Measurement of Case Depth in Laser Surface Hardening Processes

레이저 표면경화공정에서 경화층깊이의 실시간 측정을 위한 와전류 전자기장의 이론적 해석

In laser heat treatment process of steels, the thin layer of substrate is rapidly heated to the austenitizing temperature and subsequently cooled at a very fast rate due to the self-quenching effect. Consequently, it is transformed to martensitic structure which has low magnetic permeability. This observation facilitates the use of a sensor measuring the change of electromagnetic field induced by the hardening layer. In this paper, the eddy-current electromagnetic field is analyzed by a finite element method. The purpose of this analysis is to investigate how the electrical impedance of the sensor's sensing coil varies with the change in permeability. To achieve this, a numerical model is formulated, taking into consideration the hardening depth, distance of the sensor from the hardened surface and the frequency driving the sensor. The results obtained by numerical simulation show that the eddy-current measurement method can feasibly be used to measure the changing hardening depth within the frequency range from 10 kHz to 50 kHz.