Evaluating quenchants and facilities for hardening steel

The effects of agitation and quenchant temperature on the ability of a fast oil, water, and a 16 pct solution of a polyglycol in water to remove heat from steel during quenching have been determined using instrumented probes and bars of known hardenability. The fast oil was relatively insensitive to quenchant velocity in the range of 0 to 1 m/s (200 fpm) or to temperatures of 25° to 70 °C (85° to 160 °F). The oil produced quench severity factors of 0.3 to 0.6 under most conditions examined.