High-Performance Cooling for Large Alumium Sections-Industrial Application of a Compact Combined Air-Water In-Line Quench

摘要

It is common knowledge that press quenching of large size aluminum extrusions can yield massive goemtrical distortions of the profile. Complying with alloy dependent cooling rates often results in intricate cooling strategies. Some of these problems will be brefly illustrated together with possible slutions offered through modern quenching technology. Whereas historically intensive-cooling units have been built as hybrid systems (water and air combined in one). distortion problems have led to build speparate air and water units for larger sections. Air cooling, on one side, needs to bring massive volumes of high celocity air closest to the profile surface, yet leaving easy exit of these air strenams, once they have cooled the profile. An efficient water cooling, on the contrary, needs intricate cotnrol of water jets on precise areas of the profile, thus clogging the profile environment with huge amounts of nozzles and piping.