Optimizing Accelerated Cooling Processes of Thick Plates by Using Numerical Simulation

Abstract

In this work, a numerical simulation model was built to study the temperature rise on plate surface after laminar cooling based on finite element method (FEM) for optimizing the accelerated cooling processes of hot-rolled Q345E steel plates with thickness ≥40 mm. The effects of the cooling intensity and final cooling temperatures on the temperature rise after laminar cooling and the internal cooling rates were studied. The accelerated cooling processes of four typical thickness plates were optimized. The mechanical properties of the plates with thickness of 40 mm produced by the optimized processes proposed in this work were excellent.

Keywords:

• Accelerated cooling
• Finite element method
• Mechanical properties
• Microstructures
• Numerical simulation
• Technology
• Temperature rise
• Thick plates

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51205342) and the Open Project Program (NECSR-201207).