The Influence of the Distance Between the Plate and the Top Nozzles During the Soft Quenching Process of the 6061 Aluminium Alloy Plates

The suppliers of the heat treatment furnaces have created the possibility to control the distance from the top nozzles to the plate surface during the quenching by mechanical displacement of the spray nozzles. The influence of the distance between the plate and the top nozzles during the soft quenching process was studied by using ANSYS finite element soft. This distance determines the area of spray nozzles on the plates and influences the quenching process by different values of the heat transfer coefficients. The mathematical model of the soft quenching process by water spraying for a 6061 aluminium alloy plate of 10 mm thickness was presented and validated on industrial equipment. Different distances between the top nozzles and the plate were simulated. The achieved results confirmed the influence of the distance between the plates and the top nozzles, during the soft quenching process on the cooling rate and on the 6061 aluminium alloy plate material properties.