Wetting and cooling performance of mineral oils for quench heat treatment of steels

Abstract

In the present work, wetting kinetics, kinematics and heat transfer characteristics of mineral oils having varying thermo-physical properties sourced from different suppliers were investigated using contact angle, online video imaging and cooling curve analysis techniques. The relaxation behavior of mineral oils of low viscosity and surface tension on Inconel substrate indicated improved wettability and fast spreading kinetics while mineral oils of high viscosity and surface tension showed reduced wettability and slower spreading kinetics. Further, the spreading behavior of mineral oils of lower viscosity and density showed the absence of viscous regime. During rewetting, formation of double wetting fronts and more uniform nature of wetting front were observed with mineral oils of high viscosity and flash point whereas no additional wetting front was observed for mineral oils of low viscosity and flash point. Among the convectional/fast/hot mineral oils, higher wetting front velocity and cooling rate were obtained for low viscosity mineral oil. The heat extracting capability of high viscosity mineral oils was higher during vapour and nucleate boiling and lower during liquid cooling stage. Further, highly viscous mineral oils showed uniform heat transfer compared to mineral oils having low viscosity. © 2014 ISIJ.