CFD Modeling of Gas Cooling for Sustainable Heat Treatment for Drivetrain Components

Tuesday, May 6, 2025: 2:00 PM
Room 20 (Vancouver Convention Centre)
Mr. Vincent Dinh , SWERIM AB, Lulea, Norrbotten, Sweden
Ms. Angelica Lantto , SWERIM AB, Lulea, Norrbotten, Sweden
Prof. Pavel Ernesto Ramirez Lopez , SWERIM AB, Luleå, Norrbottens, Sweden
Prof. Sofia Larsson , Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Norrbotten, Sweden
Mr. Anders Olofsson , Scania CV AB, Södertälje, Sweden
Mr. Andreas Jansson , Epiroc Rock Drills AB, Örebro, Närke, Sweden
Drivetrain electrification is essential to reduce environmental impact from road transportation. One critical step is the production of more efficient and higher-performing power-transmitting components with tighter tolerances. These allow more sustainable production due to less machining and corrective treatment by fewer distortions which reduce energy consumption and material waste. Such demand emphasizes the need to control dimensional changes during quenching.

The present project addresses a shift in heat treatment methods towards a more circular approach, e.g. replacing gas-fired atmosphere furnaces running on mineral-oil with electrically heated low-pressure carburizing (LPC) and gas cooling. Compared to conventional atmospheric carburizing, LPC has at least 80% lower CO2 emissions. The project aims to leverage and develop advanced computational tools to adapt loading configurations and gas cooling parameters efficiently for new component geometries. These tools support the prediction of quenching outcomes (e.g. cooling rates, material properties and dimensional changes) reducing the need for hard machining and decreasing rejections for OEMs and their heat treatment suppliers. Verification is a critical component of the project and is conducted both for the flow field within the cooling chamber and for the dimensional changes in components.

The model is based on splitting the chamber into 2 sub-models; one for the heat exchanger in 2D which supplies boundary conditions for the whole chamber in 3D in a subsequent simulation. Initial simulations address inlet velocities based on experimental data, providing detailed velocity profiles and cross-sectional flow insights. These are used to model different RPM in the chamber reflecting different cooling intensities. Components with full design details are added for running a series of parametric studies to predict velocity and heat transfer characteristics in the chamber. The results highlight optimal turbine RPM settings for a more even cooling which would reduce distortion, marking significant progress toward predictive accuracy in gas cooling processes.

See more of: Modeling of Processes and Phenomena - Applications I
See more of: QDE Technical Program