Title: The estimation of temperature and hardness distribution in heat-treated complex-shaped components

Authors: K. Palaniradja, V. Soundararajan, N. Alagumurthi, J. Elamaran

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry – 605014, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry – 605014, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry – 605014, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry – 605014, India

Abstract: The quality or obtainable characteristics of any heat-treated component depend on the extent of the temperature distribution over the entire surface and cross-section of the component exposed during the different stages of heat treatment. It becomes more critical in the case of complex-shaped components, such as gears, for the shape plays a major role in controlling the distribution of temperature. This work presents a temperature distribution analysis using the Finite Element Method (FEM) and mathematical modelling approaches, carried out on gears during quenching in different quenchants. The temperature distribution data thus obtained from both analyses are used to draw cooling curves. The phase transformation kinetics is studied by superimposing the cooling curves on the Time-Temperature-Transformation (TTT) diagram of the material. The hardness achievable on the gears is obtained by estimating the martensite content using the Koistinen-Marburger model and the Avrami model.

Keywords: finite element analysis; FEA; heat treatment; phase transformations; temperature estimation; hardness distribution; complex components; temperature distribution; mathematical modelling; gears; quenching.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMMP.2008.022035

International Journal of Microstructure and Materials Properties, 2008 Vol.3 No.4/5, pp.548 - 562

Published online: 17 Dec 2008 *

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