Quenching fundamentals: Heat transfer

Quenching is essentially a heat transfer problem. It is necessary to quench parts fast enough that adequate mechanical and corrosion properties are achieved, but not so fast that detrimental distortion and residual stresses are formed. In addition, non-uniform heat transfer across the surface of a part will produce thermal gradients which will also create distortion or residual stresses. In this paper, the role of agitation will be discussed in terms of the heat transfer coefficient. A brief review of the published heat transfer literature will be discussed in terms of the fluid flow on heat transfer coefficient, with implications on quenching.