7. Conclusions

When designing a mechanical part, the choice of material is often a compromise between various technical and economic considerations, and we are obliged to rely on certain localized hardenings to ensure certain functional requirements: resistance to aging, fatigue, wear, tribology, sealing. It is also often the case that a part's resistance to in-service stresses calls for more severe conditions, for example, through greater resistance to fatigue crack initiation at a fillet joint.

Hardening after induction heating is therefore often the most practical and economical solution for hardening a part's surface area to the required level, provided the part is made from a sufficiently carbon-rich ferrous alloy.

It allows easy, precise localization of hardening, helping to limit the risk of deformation, and reproducible, automated part-by-part...