Fluidized bed quenching is an attractive alternative to liquid quenching processes since the part does not develop a vapor barrier during quenching.  This lack of a vapor barrier significantly reduces residual stresses and part distortion that often plagues liquid based quenching techniques.  The heat transfer rate of the quenching process, however, is lower than can be obtained by liquid based quenchants.  The lower heat transfer rate may rule out fluidized bed quenching for some applications due to part geometry or alloy quench sensitivity.  In this research, the heat transfer characteristics of the fluidized bed process were measured.  The heat transfer characteristics was then utilized in computer modeling to develop a precise method for determining the applicability of fluidized bed quenching for aluminum parts of a given geometry and alloy.