Quench cooling performance-hardness correlation for AISI 1045 and 1090 steels

Abstract

Heat transfer and microstructure evolution during quenching of AISI 1045 and 1090 steels in vegetable oils was investigated. To simulate the industrial quench heat treatment, reference probes made of medium and high carbon steels were quenched, and heat flux transients were estimated by taking into account the phase transformation. The cooling curves obtained with reference probes made from AISI 1045 and AISI 1090 steels showed kinks indicating enthalpy change accompanied with phase transformations during continuous cooling. This was reflected in the estimated heat flux curves. The section thickness effect on heat flux transients was examined by using probes of diameters 25 mm and 50 mm. The cooling rates measured at various locations across the section diameter of reference probes were related to the hardness using the quench factor technique. The heat transfer characteristics of the quench media, the evolved microstructure, and the resulting hardness were in complete agreement. © 2019 by ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959.