Thermal Stresses in the Accessories of Heat Treatment Furnaces vs Cooling Kinetics

Depending on the course of the processes of heat treatment and thermo-chemical treatment, the technological equipment of heat treatment furnaces is exposed to different operating conditions, as the said processes differ among themselves in the temperature of annealing and atmosphere prevailing in the furnace chamber, in the duration of a single work cycle and in the type and temperature of the coolant. These differences affect the magnitude of stresses occurring in each cycle of the operation of furnace accessories, and thus play an important role in fatigue processes leading to the destruction of these accessories. The kinetics of temperature changes during each cooling process plays an important role in the formation of thermal stresses on the cross-section of the cooled parts. It depends on many factors, including the initial cooling temperature, the type and temperature of the cooling medium, or the dimensions and shape of the object. This article presents a numerical analysis of the effect of the initial temperature on the distribution of stresses on the cross-section of the grate ribs, generated in the first few seconds of the cooling process carried out in two cooling media, i.e. hardening oil and water. The analysis was carried out by the finite element method, based on the results of experimental testes of temperature changes in the rib during its cooling.