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Induction Shrink Fitting an Aluminum Lens Tube for Optical Systems

Picture of Brett Daly Brett Daly 11/23/15, 3:15 PM

shrink fitting

A client needed to heat an aluminum tube for a shrink fitting application. It is a component for an optical system. The client had been using an oven. They took advantage of complimentary applications testing and turned to THE LAB at Ambrell's applications team and their extensive experience to develop a solution.

Some of the primary reasons for looking to induction for this shrink fitting application included:

Speed: Induction outperformed their oven's heating time
Precision: With induction, only the portion of the part that requires heating gets heated
Footprint: An oven takes up more floor space, especially when you consider that the induction workhead can be placed a considerable distance away from the induction power supply

The aluminum tube was 19” (483 mm) long with an outside diameter of 0.875” (22 mm) and a wall thickness of 0.065” (1.7 mm). Laboratory engineers developed a four-turn split helical coil that enabled easy part loading. The customer required the part to be heated to 437 ºF (225 ºC) within 30 seconds, which an EASYHEAT 2 kW induction heating system easily delivered. An EASYHEAT 4.2 kW system could reduce the heating time to less than 18 seconds.

To learn about more induction heating applications including other shrink fitting applications, visit the Induction Applications section of the Ambrell website.