The generation of stress and strain during the quenching of steel plates in polyalkylene glycol solutions

Abstract

An examination has been made of the effect of increasing polyalkylene glycol concentration on the generation of thermal stress and strain in steel plates of a high hardenability steel 835M30, using a viscoelastic‐plastic mathematical model. The results obtained from these quenched specimens suggest that the residual stresses and strains were not greatly affected by concentrations of the proprietary Aquaquench 1250 within the range 5% to 25%, although the addition of up to 5% of this solution did markedly reduce the residual stress and strain. At the same time the reduction in the Aquaquench 1250 from 25% to 5% greatly reduced the duration of the vapour blanket stage of the quench, so it might be possible to produce a fully martensite structure in a lower hardenability steel without adversively affecting the level of stress and strain at the end of the quench.