Cooling Characteristics During Bath Quenching of Test Probe Using Inverse Heat Transfer

Abstract

It is of engineering importance to accurately predict the surface cooling characteristics in bath quenching of metals and alloys. In this investigation, the surface cooling characteristics in quenching of Wolfson probe are estimated with reasonable accuracy by solving an inverse heat conduction problem. Regularization method is used for smoothening the input temperature measurements at probe center, for superior inversion estimates. The reverse pool-boiling curve is captured on bath quenching characteristic, plotted as cooling velocity versus surface temperature. The prime advantage is the bypassing of convection coefficients, which are uncertain in pool boiling.

Keywords:

• bath quenching
• boiling-curve
• cooling velocity
• heat treatment
• inverse heat conduction problem
• Wolfson probe

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors thank Mr. P. P. Donde, Research Assistant, Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology–Bombay, for the assistance in preparation of figures.