Multi-zone multi-phase temperature field modelling of aluminum alloy workpieces in large-scale vertical quench furnaces

Abstract Fast and accurate acquisition of the temperature information of a workpiece is essential to achieve temperature uniformity control in the quenching process. Based on the special quenching technique, a three-dimensional multi-zone multi-phase thermal model of aluminum alloy workpieces has been developed. The boundary conditions of the developed model are determined according to the multi-phase heating feature. Considering the detailed furnace geometric parameters and the multi-zone heating manner, the radiative heat flux is calculated by a simplified zone method. To satisfy the desired computational precision, a novel double-extrapolation finite element method (EFEM), which has high accuracy and time efficiency, is proposed to solve the transient temperature field of the workpiece. The efficiency of the mathematical model is validated by a comparison with experimental data obtained from a measurement campaign with a test workpiece. Compared with the finite element method (FEM), the simulation results show that the presented EFEM is accurate enough for engineering purposes. The application results demonstrate that the developed model provides a reliable workpiece temperature field and is helpful for temperature uniformity control of large-scale vertical quench furnaces.

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