Induction contour hardening of gear wheels belongs to effective heat treatment technologies especially recommended for high-tech applications in machinery, automotive and aerospace industries. In comparison with long term, energy consuming conventional heat treatment (carburizing and consequent quenching), its main positive features are characterized by high total efficiency, short duration and relatively low energy consumption. However, modeling of the process is relatively complicated. The numerical model should contain both multi-physic and non-linear formulation of the problem. The paper concentrates on the modeling of rapid induction heating being the first stage of the contour induction hardening process which is the time consuming part of the computations. It is taken into consideration that critical temperatures and consequently the hardening temperature are dependent on the velocity of the induction heating. Numerical modeling of coupled non-linear electromagnetic and temperature fields are shortly presented. Investigations are provided for gear wheels made of a special quality steel AISI 300M. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed approach, exemplary computations of the full induction contour hardening process are provided. The exemplary results are compared with the measurements and a satisfactory accordance between them is achieved.

Next-generation cloud radio access networks (C-RANs) are anticipated to provide multi-Gbps data rate transmission and ultra-high bandwidth capacity, which is one of the key performance indicators for future mobile networks. The integral layout of fiber optics and radio network manages the capabilities of the C-RAN, but needs to be optimized in terms of cost, reliability and further scalibility. For C-RAN architectures, Radio over Fiber (RoF) transport-based fronthaul is a promising candidate but the associated issues of distortions due to nonlinear impairments (NLIs) from power amplifier, linear distortions (LDs) due to modulating lasers and high peak to average power ratio (PAPR) of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals need to be addressed. This work investigates these performance limiting factors and presents a DSP receiver-based solution to mitigate the effects of NLIs, LDs and high PAPR. Simulations are performed by applying a various range of transmission input powers, different quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) formats for the OFDM signal, optimized filtering at the receiver end and varying channel spacing among the optical WDM channels to analyze the performance of the proposed receiver under different conditions. The simulations and theoretical model of the proposed case studies verify that the presented solution for the RoF transport utilize less power, performs better for longer transmission distances, supports higher modulation formats and transports large number of WDM channels in the presence of NLIs and DLs as compared to the conventional RoF approach. With compensation of NLIs and LDs, transmission distance up to 10 km is investigated using 16 WDM channels with aggregate data rate of 100 Gb/s which shows that the proposed receiver can be used for future C-RAN fronthaul networks.

Using a vacuum during the smelting and refining of alloys removes dissolved gasses, as well as impurities with high vapour pressure. When smelting is carried out in vacuum induction furnaces, the intensification of the discussed processes is achieved by intensive mixing of the bath, as well as an enhanced mass exchange surface (liquid metal surface) due to the formation of a meniscus. This is due to the electromagnetic field applied to the liquid metal. This study reports the removal of zinc from the Al-Zn alloy containing 6.3 wt.%. Zn. The experiments were carried out with the use of two types of metallurgical devices: the VIM and ISM furnaces. For the experiments carried out in the crucible induction furnace, reduction in the operating pressure in the furnace from 1000 Pa to 10 Pa, together with the increase in temperature from 953 K to 1103 K, is accompanied by a decrease in zinc content in the alloy from 6 to 96%, compared with the initial value. Simultaneously, the overall mass transfer coefficient k_Zn increases from 5.15 × 10⁻⁶ to −1.49 × 10⁻⁴ ms⁻¹. For the experiments carried out in the furnace with a cold crucible (T = 953 K), a reduction in the operating pressure in the furnace from 1000 Pa to 10 Pa resulted in a decrease in zinc content in the alloy from 18 to 80%, compared with the initial value. For comparison, the experiments carried out in the crucible induction furnace at 953 K showed a reduction in zinc content in the alloy from 6 to 50%, which means that more intense zinc evaporation is seen in the furnace with a cold crucible. Comparison of ISM and VIM technologies in the removal efficiency of the Al-Zn alloy indicates a higher removal efficiency using the first technology, which, using the same conditions, achieves 80% of the removal efficiency of the component.

Induction surface hardening of gear wheels is a complex technological process making possible to obtain a thin hardened surface zone of the tooth and to keep soft their internal part. Mathematical modelling of the process is still a serious challenge. It requires triply coupled simulation of non-linear, transient physical fields mostly in 3D formulation. The paper deals with the analysis of various factors influencing on accuracy of computations including material properties, heat transfer parameters and modified values of critical temperatures. The main goal of the paper is to evaluate an influence of three material properties: electric conductivity, specific heat and thermal conductivity on the accordance between computations and measurements. Exemplary investigations are provided for the single frequency induction hardening of gear wheels made of steel 41Cr4.