Method and apparatus for forming a heat-treated material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9930729-B2
Application number	US-201514697418-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 27, 2015
Priority date	Feb 4, 2013
Publication date	Mar 27, 2018
Grant date	Mar 27, 2018

Abstract

Described herein is a method of forming a heat-treated material includes positioning the heat-treated material between first and second susceptors. Each of the first and second susceptors includes a tool face shaped according to a desired shape of the heat-treated material. The method also includes applying a low-strength magnetic field to the first and second susceptors to heat the first and second susceptors. Further, the method includes compressing the heat-treated material between the first and second susceptors to form the heat-treated material into the desired shape. The method additionally includes applying a high-strength magnetic field to the heat-treated material before compressing the heat-treated material between the first and second susceptors.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of forming a heat-treated material, comprising:
positioning the heat-treated material between first and second susceptors, each of the first and second susceptors comprising a tool face shaped according to a desired shape of the heat-treated material;
applying a first magnetic field from a plurality of electromagnetic coils to the first and second susceptors to heat the first and second susceptors, wherein the first magnetic field is an oscillating magnetic field;
compressing the heat-treated material between the first and second susceptors to form the heat-treated material into the desired shape; and
after applying the first magnetic field from the plurality of electromagnetic coils to the first and second susceptors, applying a second magnetic field from the plurality of electromagnetic coils to the heat-treated material before compressing the heat-treated material between the first and second susceptors, wherein the second magnetic field is a non-oscillating magnetic field and has a peak magnetic flux greater than that of the first magnetic field;
wherein the second magnetic field alters deformation properties of the heat-treated material without changing a phase of the heat-treated material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first magnetic field has a peak magnetic flux below 0.5 tesla.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peak magnetic flux of the second magnetic field is above 1 tesla.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the peak magnetic flux of the second magnetic field is above 5 tesla.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second magnetic field increases a ductility of the heat-treated material by at least about 50%.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the second magnetic field increases a ductility of the heat-treated material up to about 200%.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second magnetic field increases a ductility of and decreases yield stresses in the heat-treated material.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heat-treated material comprises an armor plate made from steel.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the second magnetic field to the heat-treated material comprises applying a plurality of non-oscillating second magnetic field pulses to the heat-treated material.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising heating the heat-treated material to a processing temperature, which does not result in a phase transition of the material, with heat from the first and second susceptors.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the processing temperature is below about 150° C.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the processing temperature is equal to a Curie temperature of the first and second susceptors.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising concurrently quenching the first susceptor, second susceptor, and the heat-treated material after compressing the heat-treated material between the first and second susceptors.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the first magnetic field from the plurality of electromagnetic coils to the first and second susceptors comprises:
applying a magnetic field, having a first peak magnetic flux, from at least one of the plurality of electromagnetic coils to a first portion of at least one of the first and second susceptors; and
applying a magnetic field, having a second peak magnetic flux different than the first peak magnetic flux, from another at least one of the plurality of electromagnetic coils to a second portion of at least one of the first and second susceptors different than the first portion of at least one of the first and second susceptors.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein applying the second magnetic field from the plurality of electromagnetic coils to the heat-treated material comprises:
applying a magnetic field, having a first magnetic flux and a first pulse duration, from at least one of the plurality of electromagnetic coils to a first portion of the heat-treated material; and
applying a magnetic field, having a second magnetic flux and a second pulse duration, from at least one of the plurality of electromagnetic coils to a second portion of the heat-treated material different than the first portion of the heat-treated material, wherein the at least one of the first magnetic flux is different than the second magnetic flux and the first pulse duration is different that the second pulse duration.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the phase of the heat-treated material is a crystallographic phase of the heat-treated material.

17. A method of forming a material, comprising:
heat treating the material to form a heat-treated material;
positioning the heat-treated material between first and second susceptors, each of the first and second susceptors comprising a tool face shaped according to a desired shape of the heat-treated material;
applying a first magnetic field from a plurality of electromagnetic coils to the first and second susceptors to heat the first and second susceptors, wherein the first magnetic field is an oscillating magnetic field;
compressing the heat-treated material between the first and second susceptors to form the heat-treated material into the desired shape; and
after applying the first magnetic field from the plurality of electromagnetic coils to the first and second susceptors, applying a second magnetic field from the plurality of electromagnetic coils to the heat-treated material before compressing the heat-treated material between the first and second susceptors, wherein the second magnetic field is a non-oscillating magnetic field and has a peak magnetic flux greater than that of the first magnetic field,
wherein heat treating the material comprises:
raising a temperature of the material from an ambient temperature to a transformation temperature to affect a desired allotropic transformation of the material; and
decreasing the temperature of the material from the transformation temperature to the ambient temperature to maintain the desired allotropic transformation in the material at the ambient temperature; and

wherein the second magnetic field alters deformation properties of the heat-treated material without changing the desired allotropic transformation in the material.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein heat treating the material comprises hardening the material.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the second magnetic field is applied to the heat-treated material while compressing the heat-treated material between the first and second susceptors.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the second magnetic field is removed from the heat-treated material before the heat-treated material is compressed between the first and second susceptors.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Matsen Marc R
• Negley Mark A

Classifications

• B22F2202/05

  Use of magnetic field · CPC title

• B22F3/14

  simultaneously · CPC title

• C21D6/00

  Heat treatment of ferrous alloys · CPC title

• B22F3/16

  in successive or repeated steps · CPC title

• H05B2206/023

  using the curie point of the material in which heating current is being generated to control the heating temperature · CPC title