Effect of composition on oil quenchant performance

Abstract

Quenching is the most common method of hardening metals and involves continuous cooling from a given austenitising temperature to achieve full transformation into a martensitic structure. The cooling rate depends mainly on the thermal characteristics of the metal, the section thickness of the workpieces and the heat removal properties of the quenching medium. Oils, when used as quenching media contain a base oil and different types of additives according to the application requirements. As the base oil, it is possible to use mineral, synthetic and natural oils, either separately or in combination. Mineral base oils are widely used because of their advantages in stability in comparison with natural oils, or lower price in comparison with synthetic oils. There are numerous additives available for use but, besides functional properties, the environmental and safety requirements have to be considered in their selection, e.g. barium additives must be replaced with less harmful compounds. Additionally, petroleum derivatives should be replaced by renewable base stocks that are biodegradable, which is a general trend in lubricant development. By changing the composition of the base oils and additives, heat transfer characteristics are also changed. This study presents the results of the analysis of physical and chemical properties, as well as of cooling characteristics of new quenching oils with different compositions. Cooling curves have been evaluated according to ISO 9950 standard.