Quenching of Aluminum Solid Cylinder: Numerical Study

A numerical method is presented for evaluating the residual stress distribution in a long aluminum solid cylinder subjected to rapid cooling. An analytical model is developed for the temperature distribution. For the boundary conditions, experimental data for the outer surface of the cylinder are used, and a reasonable agreement between the predicted temperature distribution at the center of the cylinder and the experimental data is observed. For the numerical analysis, a quasi-static, uncoupled thermoelastoplastic analysis, based on a hyperbolic sine law, is presented. The numerical results are presented for the temperature distribution as well as the thermoelastoplastic stress distribution in a solid cylinder with temperature-dependent properties. The residual stress distribution is compared with the results of other investigators who used the Finite Element Method, and a reasonable agreement between our results and previous results is observed. The conclusion is reached that the temperature dependency of the yield stresses and the problem of post-yielding are two important factors to be considered when developing a model for predicting the residual stresses in quenched bodies.