Quenchants Derived from Vegetable Oils as Alternatives to Petroleum Oil

摘要

Properties of carbon and alloy steels vary with their composition and microstructures, which are dependent on the heat treatment and quenching process used. Typically, steel is heated to its austenitization temperature and then cooled sufficiently fast to avoid pearlite transformation and obtain maximum hardness and strength. The critical cooling rate is dependent on both the specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity of both the steel and the quenchant in addition to quench-bath temperature and agitation.