Quench factor analysis of aluminium alloys using the Jominy end quench technique

Determination of the time–temperature property C curve for aluminium alloys usually involves a large number of quenches and isothermal holds to calibrate a set of constants that describes the shape of the C curve for a particular property. The authors have used the Jominy end quench test to minimise the amount of work required for this type of analysis. By matching the Vickers hardness at regular intervals along the length of the Jominy test specimen with cooling curves generated using finite element analysis (FEA), the constants of the C curve equation were determined using a single Jominy test specimen. It was possible to successfully predict the hardness down to 65% of the maximum achievable hardness with a maximum error of only 2·4%.