TESTING A Better Way fo Evaluate Quenchants By TERRY W. MOHR Employing @ modified GM Quenchometer test, Timken engineers rated the quenching speeds of woter, polymer-water mixtures, and cils, still end agitated. Test measures time it takes iron-nickel balls to cool in the quenchant The trend toward the use of leaner alloy tel, which notaly are Oi lower hardenability than thore they replace, in tum encouraging the use Ofer etn quench obtan rivalent hardening response. To treasure the characteristics snd. eff Geney of such quenching. mediums Timken engineer updated the faa GM Quonthometer Test, enabling thom to. construct osling curve through the 240 to 670 F range “The modified Quenchemeterrpid- iy evaluntes, on & compurstive Bay Tony. types of quenchants, gated ed unapiated, ‘Because of 16 sine sy Ae for mito snd Ennling production quenching. tens. The! we of additonal Fe Tall the original test requrs. only 2 chromium pated nickel all more ‘hs Smits the havior oem fnercil steel, eopeilly as qenche lac vatereaee cua? The New Test" As described by H. J. Gillland {in “Measuring Quench ing Rates With the Electomie Quench. meters Metal Progress October 1260, p. 112), the CMT Quenehometer fost the) mse) royaned ar a Rented nickel ball to ool. fom iypical mustenitzing. temperature. to G70 (ite Care pont) in tae quench ft of interest Beeavse the quench speed valves are limited the tea ees only one time-temperature point fn the cooling curve -we eleciod to te four Fe Ni balls with siferent Me temperatures: 240, 300, 980, and 480 Figure 1 shows the compositions tied Sand there conesponting. Ne pits, which were determined? with Pegoenching dtometer li ing sha ct was ao changed by providing an external switch, whit was ncteated when the Baer’ Folding’ the ball pivoted. to the side of the contained impellod by magnetic setion, Finally, provision was thade for agitation, ether by anal propelier or a reselating pump. Goetchant flow ts measured Sith pitt tube device, adjusted fo 2 velocity equivalent to that of 9 ‘Me Mohr is research met Timken Co,, Canton, Ohio, MAY 1974 typical production quenching. system TEtboutd fe per Standardiging = When ronning CQuenctiometer tents, Hs necesay Standardize test parameters 0 that Guenchonts can be compared accurate We I this erin of tess, balls were ated a 1.585 F (869 C) na diaing atmosphere for 26 to 30 min to assure uniform austeization, Then, balls were transferred to the quench: ant in 1 to2 see by simply ting the fumace,s horizontal tube type, allow ing them to roll out into the ‘bal wthich wat maintalned at room tem: erature. At the completion of each fest the ball was lightly buffed with tr wsre wheel to retire its surface feglect of this points the ‘use of data setter Rating. Quenchants ~ This test as evaluated a variety of ofl and water CALL THE AUTHOR For further informe. Xe tion or discussion of this article, you are invited to contact Terry W, Mohr (pie tured) directly ‘by telephoce at Timken Go, 1885 Dueber Ave, Canton, Ohio 144708. His number 216/459-4511, Ox 3a7, base quenchapts, both unagitated and agitated. For example, we determined how quenching speed was affected by several types of contaminants in bath oil and aqueous media, by oil oxidation, and by commercial oil addi tives, Cooling rates of so-called “high- speed” oils were also evaluated. Ratings were established by draw- ing smooth eurves through the quench times determined with the various Author Terry Mohr removes test ball from quenchometer. Four nickel-iron balls, each with a different M, temperature, are used 85TESTING 0 \ ‘00 Bao 5m | Ew | 0 a a hte § Fig. 1 ~ Increasing amounts of nickel lower the Ms point of FeNi0,25Si alloys. The four Fe-Ni balls developed for the modified Quenchometer Test have indicated compositions and Ms temperatures, determined by dilatom- etry, measurements. ‘0 ! WA s00 \ tee Fig. 2— in these ratings for 2» 30% polyalkylene glyco! water mixture and 8 straight mineral oil, note that the data points from the pure nickel ball | alone predict 2 quenching power less ‘than that of the oil. Tests with the series of Fe-Ni balls reveal that the polyalkylene glycol quenchant has greater cooling power. FeNi balls. Since these curves acou rately represent the quenching speed | (or heat extractive power) of qusnche ing media below 610 F (454 ©) they can be wel to evaluate quenchants on a comparative basis. Quench times crnined hy the test cover ese ally all tye stages of the quenching Peet the vapor blanket nlete eiling, and convective stages ClycokWater Mixtures ~ Experi 86 ence with the test had shown us that 700, quench speeds determined with nickel alls corelated well with hardening \ overs of oil quenchants. Tn evalu: | guy fing pylon lol water mi =aaaaas tures, however, quenching times for fil see ol B nickel balls seemed to predict much Nev aaa a iS Tower quenching powers for given | ‘ sop ollie concentrations tha actually exper | Mond sive enced, For instance, wedgeshaped | = ew nine ol Steel specimens quenched in various |B Ones wea concentrations established that a 25 | 2 400 \ ok PS a» We 200 | [ee yep (ueching Ses, See Fig. 5—Ratings compare several oils andi 2 30% polyalkylene glyco! mix. ture, milly agirated m™ Cy oo 0 6 (Quenching Speed, See Fig. 3 — Ratings of several polyalkylene glycol mixtures, pure water, and a Straight mineral oil, still condition, in: dicate that different concentrations of polyaikylene glycol provide a range of cooling rates, 0 0 Temperate, F 8 & 00 200 ra) (Quenching Spee, Sec ry Fig. 4—Ratings of polyalkylene mix: tures, pure water, and 2 straight mineral oil show that mild agitation speeds cooling. Compare with Fig. 3 118% PC. Onidized oil + 0.38 4.0 New oi z 158 PG + 105, 2 tytraulie oi Eo = Oxidized ol 00 \ a 00 ae ‘Quenching Spee, See Fig. 6— Quenching ratings show that water increases the quenching rate of an oil, but oil slows that of a poly alkylene glycol quenchant. Solutions ‘were agitated mildly 40 30% polymer/sater mature as equivalent fo" oll in. hardening ve sponce, In contrast quench, speed values determined. for'30% polymer dnd oll by nickel balls indicated that this polymer mixture should have been much slower than oi. The true pic: tore is revealed by’ smooth curves of Fig. 2 Guenching speed ratings for a nam ber of polyaiiene glycal concentra ons, pare. Water, and mineral. ol agitated and stil, have ‘been com | pared. As Fig. 3 and 4 show, polymer METAL PROGRESSTESTING concentrations up to about 15% have | Title effect, but the effect becomes | pronounced for concentrations of 20 to 40%. Also, curve-by-curve “con Parison of agitated and nonagitat Conditions reveals that agitation has Ite influence on the polymer quench speed until about 15% concentration is reached. Finally, curves have simi. Jar slopes, proving that increasing csmercontentraton from 10 to 40% as a relatively small effect on cooling power below 670 F (354 C). Conse: Guently, one cannot rely too much on increased polymer concentration to Slow the cooling rate. in the range ‘where cracking normally occurs. Oils — Figure 5 compares several oil enchants with a. 30% polyakylene siyeol/water mixture, all agitated. Tt Ean be seen that the quenching ability. | of the straight mineral ofl increases ‘with ‘use, as in continued production Oxidation products in this of will de- posit on the material being quenched, Tcting to shorten the total quenching time. "The fast_quenching properties of oily A and Band that of the mineral fil with a highspeed. additive are imparted. by an ash-forming com: pound, which tends to. deposit on the Rirface during quenching Quantities of these compounds Tessen with time ter continued sage 50 that gnc ing speeds of such oils approach that of the oxidized mineral ol | Contamination ~ Effects of contam- inants, such as water, are clearly 1e- vealed by the tes. The curves of Fig 8 show how water afects oll and how hydraulic ofl affects a 15% polymer- Water mixture, quenchants re age tated. Comparing the curves for ox dized ol, with and without water, we See. that’ a small amount of water {0°39 here) greatly increases the speed of quenching. It also vitually elimi nates. the influence of agitation a wwater-contaminated oil quenches at the same high rate, practically inde- pendent of the degree of agitation. Because polymertype quenchants are extensively used in automated enching stations, hydraulic off is a {Bist common contaminant from leaky hydraulic lines or cylinders. The curves of Fig. 6 show the degree of reduetion in the quenching speed of a. 18%. polymer misture;" it results from a 10% concentration of hydraulic oil contamination. Comparison with Fig 3 and 4 will show that this amount of contamination reduces the | speed to a level essentially equivalent {0 that of « 20% polymer mixture. @ 88 WELDING Heat Treating Large Structures By ROBERT W. DEUTSCH Piping systems, pressure vessels, and other lorge structures often require heat ‘reotment before and efter welding. Selection of the proper time-temperature porameters ond heating method is needed to insure failure-free service. Tnservice failures of pressure vessels, piping, tanks, end other welded stustures have often been ‘aused by a lack of any heat treatment or by improperly perfrmed heat treat ments Repair, when possible, ae general- ly ety,” Repatr bills often exceed Dy a substantial amount the cost of reliable heat teating equipment or Of comect procedures carefully super- vised. and controlled by experienced personnel Proper heat treatment is as essential to.a soundly fabricated pressure vessel, tank, piping system, or other com: ponent as are. good’ design, forming practices, and welding procedures. ‘The equation for a good heat treat- ment includes factors for temperature, holding period, heating and. coolin cyelen ad heating method Preheat ~ On medismecazbon steels, and on many Jowalloy steels, heatin Prior to welding s an effective metho of avoiding weld or heataffected zone (HAZ) cracking ‘Because this cracking tends to occur when the weld has cooled to. near Mr. Deutsch is president, Electric Arc Tne., Cedar Knolls, NJ One advantage of top hat furnaces (ight) is quick access fo the workpiece after heat treating. However, suitable lifting equipment is required. Car- bottom furnaces (below) are chosen when overhead hoists or cranes aren't available; or, when a roller hearth is desirable. CALL THE AUTHOR TBR Cosereeiers, Pete Robert W. Deutsch directly by tele- phone at Eletrie Are Inc, 4 Saddle Ra, P. 0. Box Y, Ceder Krols, NJ (07927, His number, 201/599-7100. room:temperature conditions, it i also called delayed or cold ercking, When tracking ‘occurs in the. base_ metal HAZ, it may be referred to as under bead cracking. The beneficial effects of preheat treatments include the reduction of Stresses and increased ductility tn the weld HAZ. Both contribute to crack ing resistance ‘When hydrogen is present in the weld or HAZ, cold cratking tendency Inereases. Higher preheat tempers METAL PROGRESS