Performance of vegetable oils as a cooling medium in comparison to a standard mineral oil

• Published in: Journal of materials engineering and performance 1999-08, Vol.8 (4), p.409-416
• Main Authors: TOTTEN, G. E, TENSI, H. M, LAINER, K
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Exact sciences and technology; Hardening. Tempering; Heat treatment; Metals. Metallurgy; Production techniques
• ISSN: 1059-9495; 1544-1024
• DOI: 10.1361/105994999770346693

Immersion quenching is the most widely used quenching technique today and is usually one of the last steps in heat treat processing. Improper hardening to incorrect cooling is generally a great loss and causes a great percentage of manufacturing costs. To avoid a failure in cooling, researchers are committed to describing the cooling effect as precisely as possible. The cooling of immersion cooled workpieces or probes is generally characterized by the process of wetting. Evaporable fluids exhibit the three well known stages of cooling: vapor blanket stage, boiling stage, and convective heat transfer. Therefore cooling behavior is influenced by a wide variety and depends on a number of parameters, that is, type of quenchant used, bath temperature, rate of agitation, and the physical and chemical properties of the quenched parts. Environmental pollution has caused the search for new products in hardening and shock cooling of steels. The use of soybean oils as quenching fluids is new, and compared with standard mineral oils, there are many advantages mainly concerning the environment and the health of workers. Steels discussed: Ck45 and X 6 CrNiTi 18 10.