Controlled Quenching of Aluminum Alloys in Flexible Spray Fields

During heat treatment of age hardenable aluminum alloys, the resulting mechanical properties are particularly influenced by the quenching process. To achieve the required strength, a high quenching rate after solution annealing is necessary, otherwise a homogeneous distribution of quenching intensity should be realized in order to avoid distortion. Controlled quenching within the heat treatment process of aluminum components can be realized by flexible spray fields. Suitable heat transfer conditions of the component are achievable by adjusted flexible flow fields (local and/or temporal) based on simulation of heat transfer by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). By the use of gas-(air), spray-(water/air) or jet-(water) flow fields, it is possible to adapt the quenching intensity to the part geometry and/or to the load profile in order to influence the mechanical properties as well as the distortion after heat treatment. For this purpose, a flexible spray nozzle field was integrated into heat treatment process for age hardening of different wrought-, cast-, and spray-formed aluminum alloys.