DEVELOPMENT OF A LABORATORY INTENSIVE QUENCHING (IQ) SYSTEM

To perform intensive quenching (IQ), it is important that a sufficient mass of fluid is available to remove heat from the hot-metal interface so that the boundary temperature is at, or as close a possible, to the bath temperature. This condition requires a sufficiently high fluid mass flow rate and it is not equivalent to “high” or “very high” agitation rate. Adequate heat removal for the component being quenched is a necessary condition for the formation of optimally high surface compressive stresses, which is a fundamental characteristic of intensive quenching. Although a limited number of laboratory quenching systems that provide the necessary fluid flow/heat transfer conditions to provide optimal surface compressive stresses have been reported, most are relatively large requiring large quantities of quenchant. A brief overview of previously reported IQ systems will be provided here in addition to the details of the development of a smaller laboratory IQ system that has been shown to successfully produce very high surface compressive stresses will be provided here.