Unique software bridges the gap between cooling curves and the result of hardening^∗

Abstract

One of the most critical parts of the heat treatment process, and usually the least controllable one, is the quenching operation. Improper selection or application of a quenching medium, or a drift in its cooling characteristics during its lifetime, may result in products that do not meet specifications and therefore give rise to substantial additional costs for e.g. straightening, rework, rejection, delayed deliveries and, sometimes, lost goodwill for the heat treater. A greater awareness of the importance of the quenching process came with the introduction in the last couple of decades of ISO and ASTM standards for testing cooling media (hardening oils and polymers), and commercial instruments for testing compliance with these standards. In 2003, a new, advanced system – ivf SmartQuench – was introduced which has three main features: a small, handheld data acquisition unit, advanced computer software and wireless data transmission between the data acquisition unit and the computer. The design facilitates in-situ testing in quench tanks and testing in laboratories. Recently, this system has been extended with a unique software module that allows calculation of heat transfer coefficients (e.g. for the ISO 9950 probe) by the inverse method, and calculation of hardness and microstructure in a cross-section of steel samples.

Quenching for the Future—In Memoriam of Sören Segerberg

“…Over the following years, several projects were carried out in the equipment described above [4][5][6][7]. Examples of some of the results are given here.…”

The Effect of Real and Averaged Boundary Conditions on the Cooling Rate for the Simulation of Heat Treatment Processes

“…HTC as a function of the surface temperature of the cylinder for the oil ISORAPID 277 HM was obtained from experimental measurements and was quantified in literature [2,6,7]. In the numerical experiment was used as function HTC re (T s ) and also as its averaged value HTC av , see Fig.…”

Water Entry of a Heated Axisymmetric Vertical Cylinder

“…In addition, two distinct approaches were used in estimation of temperature, and thus the time; distributions of the heat transfer coefficient; the one proposed by the authors, and the one obtained by the ivfS-martQuench v.1.1 (Swerea IVF AB, Mölndal, Sweden) system commercial software. Speaking in terms of the aforementioned software, the ivfSmartQuench system is the standardized method for estimation of quenching power of liquids and is explained in more detail in Troell et al [12]. Furthermore, the fundamentals of the IHTA together with the examples in a realistic quenching application using computational software are described in the paper.…”