Effects of thickness variation on quenching properties of 7075 aluminum alloy plates

Thickness variation of aluminum alloy plates has a directly influence on the change patterns of temperature field and stress field during the quenching process. Numerical approach of quenching analysis is conducted to aluminum alloy plates with different thicknesses on the same quench conditions. Variation trend of the temperature field and stress field inside plates with different thicknesses is given by the FEA analysis. Results reveal that as thickness of plates increases, the changing trends of the temperature field and stress field slow down gradually, duration quenching process needed becomes longer, and the residual stress increases as well. Compressive stress during the quench process diminishes as the thickness increases, whereas the pulling stress generated directly increases when there is a increment in thickness of plates. © 2014 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY. All rights reserved.